A Royal Conspiracy
by Ri2
Summary: The misery of leading the Royal Knights has killed Alphamon's soul and left him apathetic to all things. When a mysterious child is dropped in his lap, he finds that apathy challenged. Who is Meicoomon, and why have powerful forces conspired to make her life as awful as possible? The answers may force him to once again be the hero he once was, for her sake if not his own...
1. The Kitten with the X shaped pupils

Those of you who have been fans of my work for a while now know to expect certain things from my stories, especially those featuring those goofballs, the Royal Knights.

This is not one of those stories.

This is something new.

This is a bit of an experiment for me, so hopefully I do a good job of it. And I hope you enjoy it, because this story is a bit outside my usual bailiwick. Let's see how I handle it, shall we?

Disclaimer: I don't own anything that doesn't belong to me.

…

Alphamon's head hurt.

There were a variety of reasons for this. It could be because he had a hangover, as he often did these days, having spent most of his evening drinking himself into a stupor to try and forget, for just a little while, the unending shitshow that was his life.

It could be because the lights in his office were always too bright and hurt his eyes, but no matter how many times he put in a requisition for new lights, nothing ever changed.

It could be because Dynasmon had 'accidentally' thrown a football at his head earlier that day, and a part of Alphamon was hoping he had a concussion, because it would be an excuse to leave work early. Or possibly die. More and more these days, he was praying for the latter to occur, because it was the only possible escape could see from this hell.

Or, it could also be because of the sheer amount of paperwork on his desk. He could swear that it was multiplying, because no matter how many forms he filled out, there always seemed to be more of them when he was finished for the day then there were going in.

There were always bills to pay, because despite what some of his subordinates seemed to think, it cost a lot of money to keep this operation afloat, and it didn't help when they were so careless in their actions, nor did it help that their budget was so meager to begin with, especially since Yggdrasil seemed to delight in taking any opportunity to slash funding for the weakest of excuses, but that was just scratching the surface of what he had to deal with.

Omnimon's therapy to deal with his occasional split personality problem from being an imperfect DNA Digivolution was getting more expensive, especially since it was no longer covered by their health insurance. Another of Craniamon's experiments had failed spectacularly and blown up a good chunk of his lab and part of their headquarters, and the construction crew was going to charge extra this time for having to keep coming out here so regularly. Crusadermon had decided to paint murals in several of the hallways, which might not be so bad if she hadn't accidentally used incredibly toxic paint and a number of personnel had already died from the fumes. Gankoomon had broken the training hall, _again_ , and the suppliers were charging an arm and a leg to replace everything. Magnamon had put in a requisition for new armor, since his most recent set had exploded _again_ , and his lawyers were still demanding a sizable sum in restitution for their nearly killing him for contracting the X-Antibody.

And speaking of lawyers, more and more angry husbands were suing Examon for seducing their wives (Which was preposterous. Not that Alphamon was disputing that Examon had slept with all those women; it was just that the Dragon was too friendly and awkward to even _think_ of seducing anyone without getting incredibly flustered. More likely they were just sad, lonely housewives who were desperate for any sort of affection, since they certainly weren't getting it from their cheating spouses), and the court fees were piling up. Kentaurosmon had _still_ failed to find a new home for his Reppamon 'nieces and nephews', and the rowdy Champions were eating them out of house and home and the cleaning staff were threatening to quit from all the messes they were being forced to pick up. Jesmon had wasted millions on a scammer taking advantage of his gullibility to convince him to give money to help a deposed Digerian Prince take the throne. Leopardmon was fervently petitioning for another new name change, though privately, Alphamon suspected that even if he did get a new one, Dynasmon would still find a reason to make fun of it, and nothing would change.

And as for Dynasmon…

Well, Dynasmon was responsible for more than half of his paperwork and then some. Not for the first time, Alphamon longed for his old comrade, the first Dynasmon, who had been there when the Royal Knights were first formed. Now _he_ had been a hero worthy of the title of Paladin. Such a pity how his successors had disgraced his legacy, especially the current Dynasmon, who was the worst they'd ever had. And unfortunately, despite all the regulations he had broken, all the lawsuits that had been leveled against him, all the terrible, awful, _stupid_ things he'd done, Alphamon couldn't fire him because they just _had_ to have a Dynasmon in the ranks according to their charter, and Alphamon couldn't help worrying that his replacement might somehow be _worse._

And then Gallantmon...hadn't done anything, actually. He never did. A part of Alphamon was grateful, another was frustrated. His sheer purity and incorruptibility only served to throw a spotlight on how flawed and pitiful the rest of them were. It was very unfair of him, really. How _dare_ he consistently be better than everyone else!

Alphamon would spend most, if not all of the day, tackling this mountain of paperwork, of bills and taxes and requisition forms and court summons. And then he would go home, to his lonely, empty quarters, drink himself into a stupor, and come back the next day to repeat the process, except there would be even more paperwork waiting to deal with whatever moronic stunt his underlings had committed during the hours he'd foolishly taken his eyes off them to try and get some rest.

Maybe the Demon Lords would challenge them to a fight where absolutely nothing would happen and the situation would take care of itself. Maybe Yggdrasil would tell them to go to some important political or diplomatic event just so they could stand there and look pretty in front of the cameras, or order them to go out and commit some kind of pointless errand or atrocity for petty, selfish reasons. Maybe Gallantmon or any of the others who still believed that there was hope for the future of their order, to return to the old ways when they actually righted wrongs and _did_ things like a proper knight should, would come up with yet another attempt to try and whip the rest into shape, only to fail miserably. Alphamon didn't know why they kept trying. He'd given up ages ago.

This was his life; an unending series of gray days staring at paperwork for so long the lines begin to blur together and he started to go cross eyed, punctuated by moments of frantic chaos usually instigated by Dynasmon or one of the others, pathetic attempts by Lucemon or some other would-be villain to try and take over the world, and more and more ways for Yggdrasil to humiliate him in public and further grind his self-esteem into the dirt. It had been like this for longer than he could remember, and would continue on into the foreseeable future. There was no chance of change. No hope for something new. No hope, period.

Alphamon stared at the form in front of him; certain that he'd already filled it out, or one almost exactly like it, several hundred times before. Not for the first time, he wondered if his armor would protect him from being crushed should the towers of documents collapse on him. He dearly hoped it wouldn't.

He tried to pick up his pen to sign the form in front of him (which was either a request to add creamed corn to the cafeteria menu or another sexual harassment accusation against Dynasmon), only to discover that his hand would not respond to his mental commands. _Is it finally happening?_ He wondered after a few more attempts to move resulted in failure. _Have I finally lost the will to live, and the motivation to do anything? I'm surprised it took so long. Well, I guess it had to happen sooner or later._

There was a knock on the door. He didn't say anything, and wasn't sure if he could muster the drive to do so in the first place. _Go away_ , he prayed. _Leave me alone, so that I might die here in this chair, surrounded by these testaments to my failure to keep this organization from becoming a hollow shell of what it used to be. Leave me be, so that I may die, and be reunited with my old comrades. They'll probably be pissed at me, but honestly, I'd take them over most of the jokers I deal with on a regular basis any day._

The interloper didn't go away. In fact, they opened the door and brazenly entered the office. _Well, that's just rude_ , Alphamon thought, offended.

The intruder was a beast-like Digimon wrapped in blue bandages over most of its body. It had two large legs and two arms, each of which had three long, red claws, as well as a large, saurian tail. The fur around the base of its neck was blue while the fur on its back and the back of its head was black. It had two black, pointed ears with blue tips and two large wings with large screws at the wrist joint. It had spiked metal braces on its arms, legs, and tail with screws at the base of the tail and wires emerging from the tip while its face was covered by a metal mask with a grill in the front. On its brow was a diamond-shaped purple-blue gem, indicated to be an old-style interface.

 _Oh great_ , _a DexDorugamon_ , Alphamon thought in disgust. _I hate those guys. Think that just because their line makes up most of Yggdrasil's personal guard means they can get away with anything up to and including murder, and believe that nobody can touch them because they've got that stupid tree backing them. I wonder how they'd feel if they realized just how little their master actually cared about them?_ He frowned internally. _Hmm, but who's the kid? I don't recognize her species…_

The DexDorugamon had not entered his office alone. Dragged on a leash at his side was a rather young Digimon, one he didn't recognize. She was a bipedal cat-like creature with orange fur on most of her body, and white on her snout, paws, and inner ears, as well as a white mane. She had many black spots on her head fur. She had green eyes with cross-shaped pupils, as well as a tail, and two scarf-like appendages on each neck. Both the tail and the scarf-like appendages had multiple black "Xs" on them, and an X-shaped protrusion on its end. She also had white hexagonal crystals with golden borders on her forelegs. She was covered in an alarming number of scars and bruises, and from the expression on her face and the way she was trembling, it was clear she was utterly terrified and completely miserable, an emotion Alphamon could sympathize with. He felt pretty despondent just being in the presence of the DexDorugamon. There was something else off about her, though… He could sense a strange power emanating from her, one far beyond her small frame, something that felt… Dangerous. And yet, familiar.

 _Interesting_ , Alphamon thought to himself. Out loud, he said, "DexDorugamon. What an unexpected surprise. If I'd known ahead of time that one of the Almighty Yggdrasil's envoys would darken my doorstep, I'd have cleaned up a little."

"Alphamon. How nice to see that your exalted throne still fits you as well as ever," the Ghost Digimon sneered in reply.

Alphamon growled at that. Both of them knew that his desk chair was far too small and flimsy to comfortably seat a Digimon of Alphamon's bulk and weight, and his Sisyphean attempts to get a replacement were the stuff of bureaucratic legend, or perhaps horror stories. "Let yourself in," he retorted. "Oh, wait, you already did. That was rather impolite."

"Yes, well, you didn't answer when I knocked," DexDorugamon said with a shrug.

"And instead of checking to make sure that I wasn't in the middle of something so that you wouldn't disturb me in the middle of important business, you just barged right in. So good to see that your kind still possesses as much tact as ever," Alphamon shot back.

DexDorugamon burst into laughter. "Important business? _You?_ " His whole body convulsed with laughter, foot stamping the ground hard enough to dent it, the young Digimon at his side gasping as her leash kept getting tugged on.

Alphamon fumed impotently. "Yes, fine, both of us know that I'm a complete and utter joke. Say your piece and get out of here. What is it that's so important you figured it was fine to drag your latest underaged sex toy into my office, anyway? Want to show her that if she shuts up and gives you oral when asked, she can avoid my horrible fate?"

DexDorugamon sighed theatrically. "The constant attempts of you lesser beings to try and impugn our virtue with spurious accusations of all manner of atrocities never ceases to confound me." He smiled ghoulishly. "And even if any one of those rumors were true, what would be wrong with that? As Yggdrasil's chosen servants, surely every action we take is by definition pure and good, and our motivations for doing them far beyond the ken of such simpleminded creatures as yourself."

"I notice you didn't actually deny that she was your plaything," Alphamon pointed out.

"As a matter fact, she isn't," DexDorugamon admitted, and the hint of regret in his tone was enough to send shivers of disgust down Alphamon's back. "She is, however, the reason why I am here. Her name is Meicoomon, and it is our sovereign's wish that you… Take care of her."

Alphamon glanced at the unfamiliar Digimon, who looked even more frightened now, warily. "Is that supposed to be a euphemism for something? Because I swore that after the last time-"

"Not in this instance, no," DexDorugamon corrected him. "I'm amused you still seem to think that you can deny Yggdrasil any requests He might make of you, though. No, He desires that you _actually_ take care of her. As in, raise her as your child."

Alphamon blinked. That was certainly not what he expected. "You… Want _me_ to raise a child? But I don't know the first thing about being a parent! If you want someone to adopt the kid, why don't you give her to someone who has actual parenting experience? I mean, Gallantmon is married and has two kids and a bunch of foster children, UlforceVeedramon practically raised Magnamon – – for all the good it's done him – – Kentaurosmon is basically the caretaker of all those irritating Reppamon infesting headquarters, and Gankoomon is probably the closest thing to a parent Jesmon has… Which makes the fact that Jesmon still seems to have a massive crush on him more than a little creepy."

"Oh no, none of them could possibly do the job," DexDorugamon said smoothly. "They have too much… _Compassion_ ," he said in disgust, as if it were a vile curse.

Alphamon stared at DexDorugamon, uncomprehending. "I'm… Sorry?"

"All those Knights you mentioned are too… _Gentle_ and _caring_ to give Meicoomon the upbringing she deserves," DexDorugamon sneered. "We considered Dynasmon and Crusadermon, but we want the girl to grow up, not die of neglect. And if we gave her to Craniamon, the risk is too high of her dying due to some terrible lab accident, or worse, he finds a way to… Undo what makes her so very special. No, you're perfect for the role, since you hate everyone and everything, and any love for others you might have once possessed has long since withered away to bitter resentment and apathy at best. As such, you will give Meicoomon the childhood she deserves… One full of contempt and cold indifference."

There was a creaking sound. It took Alphamon a moment to realize it was because his fingers were digging into the desk hard enough to carve furrows into it. "You… You want me to raise her because… You think I'll _abuse_ her?!" he asked incredulously.

"Not think. _Expect,_ " DexDorugamon said cruelly as Meicoomon whimpered. "If you truly lack the stomach to give her the, ah, _discipline_ she deserves, I suppose being a distant and uncaring parent who deprives her of any form of love or affection will suffice. Still, you do have such a very hard and stressful job, so always keep in mind that if you ever feel the need to vent, well… Why bother wasting money on stress toys when you have something more, ah, resilient within arm's reach?" He smiled lasciviously. "And of course, whenever the loneliness of your hollow, miserable life gets too much for you, and you don't want to spend money on a cheap whore, you can always take the child to bed and-"

In a sudden motion, Alphamon surged to his feet, flipping the desk off the ground and onto the startled DexDorugamon, crushing him against the floor as paper flew everywhere. As the Ghost Digimon gasped in surprise and tried to shake the desk off of himself, Alphamon grabbed his computer and smashed it against DexDorugamon's head, again and again and again, until the monitor broke. DexDorugamon cried out in pain, part of his mask caved in and one of his eyes swollen shut, and struggled to crawl away from Alphamon, but the Knight stomped down on his leg, causing him to shriek as he started applying pressure to it. "What… What do you think you're doing?! You _dare_ to attack an envoy of-"

Alphamon interrupted him by stamping down hard enough on the leg to break it, causing DexDorugamon to howl in agony. "Oh, quit it already. You're no holy emissary or chosen one or whatever you disgusting patchwork freaks call yourselves, you're nothing more than petty thugs hiding behind the biggest bully in the Digital World. You're certainly no angels, especially with wings like _these!_ " He snarled, grabbing DexDorugamon's wings, and beginning to pull.

"S-stop!" DexDorugamon cried desperately, yelping in pain. "Think about what you're doing! If you continue to harm me, Yggdrasil will-"

"What? Make my life hell? Too late, it already is!" Alphamon retorted, pulling harder. "And besides, I don't think there is _anything_ he can do to me that's worse than having to listen to Dynasmon singing!"

"N-no… Please…" DexDorugamon whimpered.

"Here's a hard truth for you: absolutely nobody in the entire Digital World respects you. The only reason they're scared of you is because they're worried that Yggdrasil will come down on their heads if they don't give you everything you ask for, and if it weren't for that, they wouldn't give you the time of day. But I know what Yggdrasil is really like, and that he doesn't give a _shit_ what happens to you little bastards," Alphamon growled. "So when you go crawling back to your master, whining about how the big bad Knight beat you up, I want you to take a picture of his face and send it to me. I could use a good laugh."

With a furious roar, he ripped off at DexDorugamon's wings, causing the undead dragon to bellow at ear-splitting volumes. Alphamon casually tossed the wings aside as they disintegrated into data and kicked the weeping DexDorugamon in the stomach, nudging him towards the door. "Now get out of here, you filthy animal, before I put you down like the diseased freak you are. And when you complain to your boss about how the big scary knight gave you an owie, tell him that Alphamon, for all his faults, is not and never will be a kiddie-fucker or abuser!"

Sobbing and spluttering hollow promises of vengeance, DexDorugamon dragged himself out of the office, leaving a trail of leaking data and certain unmentionable fluids in his wake. Alphamon stared after him, grinning in exultation. That had felt incredible. He couldn't remember the last time he'd felt so energized, so alive! Sure, he was probably going to get in trouble for this, but it'd been worth it. Hell, he should've done this years ago! He should have-

There was a muffled yelp and the sound of scattering paper, and Alphamon turned to see that Meicoomon, eyes wide in terror, had slipped and fallen in some paperwork while trying to back away from him, quivering in fright. The (alleged) leader of the Royal Knights suddenly realized that he had violently beaten and dismembered another Digimon in front of a small, clearly abused child, and he still had its data and fluids on his hands.

"Um. Okay," he said, raising his hands non-threateningly, causing the feline to flinch back. "Don't worry. I'm not… I'm not going to hurt you. All those things that piece of shit said, all the things he was encouraging me to do, I'm not going to do them."

"… Why not?" Meicoomon whispered after him.

Alphamon blinked. "What do you mean, 'why not?'"

"Everyone else does," Meicoomon said softly, staring at him with a mix of terror and, maybe, a small bit of hope.

"… Everyone… _Everyone_ _else_ …" Alphamon shook his head, out of his depth. "Okay, I… I've absolutely no idea what I'm doing here. I'm… I'm going to get a friend of mine over here, okay? He's… He's better with children. Loves them. Not in that way!" He added quickly when horror flashed across her face. "And he… He's not going to hurt you either, okay? He'd kill himself before he harms a child. His wife too. They're both good people."

"That's what Miss Swanmon said back at Primary Village," Meicoomon said quietly as Alphamon carefully picked his way through the paper littering the floor looking for his phone, which had been flung across the office when he'd violently overturned his desk.

"Yeah, that sounds about right. Swanmon are very caring and nurturing Digimon. Would never abuse a child," Alphamon agreed as he located his phone and bent down to pick up.

"She did," Meicoomon whispered so quietly he almost didn't hear it.

Alphamon froze, hand inches away from the phone as he processed this. Fuck. What had he just gotten himself into?

 _I really,_ really _hope Gallantmon knows what to do,_ the leader of the Royal Knights thought as he picked up the phone and hit the speed dial for the other Knight. _He's way better with kids than me..._


	2. The Fox Queen's Blessing

Disclaimer: I don't own anything that doesn't belong to me.

...

There were many legends in the Digital World. One of the most popular in this day and age was that of the Fox Queen.

The Fox Queen, according to the stories, was a mighty sorceress without peer, a spellcaster whose magic was as great as her wisdom, her wisdom was as boundless as her kindness, and her kindness was as breathtaking as her beauty, and she was beauteous indeed. If the tales were to be believed, she ruled over a vast domain rich in magic somewhere in the world, a place where spirits danced and played, where sadness and want were virtually unheard of, and the people rarely ever had a reason not to smile. Her heart was so big and full of love, so it was said, that her borders were open to all who had been spat on, cast out, and spurned by the rest of the world, offering them a place where all the destitute and lonely and broken in spirit could find a place to belong and heal, a place to call home. It was also said that, for all her bottomless compassion, she had absolutely no tolerance for the cruel or the wicked or the unjust (though some claimed that she had a bit of a blind spot where her sister was concerned), and would obliterate any evil that crossed her path without hesitation, condemning those who sought to harm those in her care to a living death beyond imagining.

Many scorned these stories, claiming they were nothing more than fables made up by weak Digimon to give themselves hope where none could be found. Alphamon was not one of those naysayers. He knew the Fox Queen was real. After all, she was right there in his office, talking to Meicoomon.

"Greetings, little one," the Fox Queen, also known as Sakuyamon, said gently, smiling beatifically at Meicoomon, who, while regarding the shamaness warily, didn't seem to be quite as afraid of her as she was everything else. Whether that was because Sakuyamon had used some spell or glamour, or her innate purity was so self-evident it was impossible for anyone to mistrust her, or because she was just so goshdarned beautiful even without magic it was impossible for anyone to look at her without falling a little in love with her, it was hard to say. "My name is Sakuyamon, though I am known by many names, including the Fox Queen. Do they still whisper that name in the Primary Village where you were hatched?"

"Th-they do," Meicoomon whispered, awed to be in the presence of a living legend. "They told me you were just a fairytale. That someone as wonderful as you couldn't be real, and if she were, she would… She wouldn't want anything to do with a monster like me."

"I see no monster when I look at you, child," Sakuyamon said gently. "I see a little girl, one who has suffered far too much, more than any child ever should, in a fair and just world. What is your name, dear one?"

"M-Meicoomon," Meicoomon told her.

"Meicoomon," Sakuyamon repeated. "A fine name, and not one I've heard before. Meicoomon, tell me, how did you come to receive your injuries?"

"The… The others gave them to me," Meicoomon confessed, looking ashamed.

"The others?" Sakuyamon asked quizzically.

"The other kids. The staff at the Village. The doctors who poked and prodded. The Digimon that brought me here. Everyone…e-everyone except… him," Meicoomon whispered, nodding at Alphamon, who was standing a ways back, feeling awkward.

Sakuyamon's radiant smile faded, but only for a moment. "I see. I shall need to have… Words with the people responsible for this, little one. It was their duty to protect you and keep you safe. Clearly they have been derelict in this duty."

"They were… They were just treating me the way I deserve," Meicoomon said miserably. "I'm a monster. Everyone says so."

"Then everyone is wrong," Sakuyamon said firmly.

"But they're not!" Meicoomon snapped, her eyes flashing red for a moment, arcs of red electricity crackling around her briefly, and the strange power Alphamon had sensed earlier growing in strength. "There's… There's something inside of me. Something dark. Something horrible. And when… And when I lose control, I hurt people. Hurt them badly. So it's… It's only fair for them to hurt me back. I'm lucky they don't kill me. Maybe they should have-"

"No!" Sakuyamon interjected sharply, startling Meicoomon. "You must never think that! All life is precious, and for you to believe that it would be best if yours were to simply cease to be… That is a tragedy I simply cannot accept! You are correct, Meicoomon, there is something inside you. I can sense it now. But I'm not afraid."

"Y-you aren't?!" Meicoomon asked in disbelief.

"There are many Digimon in this world possessing power both great and terrible, myself among them," Sakuyamon assured the feline. "It is not the power itself that defines them, but what they choose to do with it. And that you fear hurting others with it… That just proves to me that you are no monster, Meicoomon, for a monster would have no regards for whomever they might hurt by accident. I believe that you are a _good_ Digimon, and if you can tame what lies within… I weep at the thought of what wonders you might perform."

"N-nobody… Nobody's ever said that about me before," Meicoomon whispered, starting to tear up. "You… You really think… I can be good?"

"I do, indeed," Sakuyamon said, about to touch the child on her shoulder, only to hesitate, not certain she would appreciate physical contact right now. "As does Alphamon. Isn't that right, Alphamon?"

"What? Um… Yeah, I guess," Alphamon said uncomfortably, feeling rather awkward at being singled out. Gallantmon, who standing beside him, cleared his throat and elbowed him. "I mean… Yes, Meicoomon. I don't think you're a monster. I'm not entirely sure _what_ you are just yet, but… Of that, I'm certain."

Meicoomon started crying even more, and, for the first time, she smiled. Alphamon felt… Weird. A strange fluttering in his chest. While normally, he would've wished it was a palpitation in his DigiCore, at that instant, he hoped it was something more.

"You did the right thing, calling us in," Gallantmon said as Sakuyamon took a closer look at Meicoomon's wounds, the girl still a little uneasy, but seeming more willing to trust her now. "This isn't the first bad case we've had to deal with. Wish there weren't so many kids like her out there…"

If pressed, Alphamon would, very reluctantly, admit that he didn't really _hate_ all of his Knights. Yes, there were some he despised with every fiber of his being, but most of them, while often getting on his nerves, he could more or less tolerate most of the time. There were others he would even call friends, but not when anyone was in earshot. It would probably surprise most people to learn that Gallantmon was among the Knights Alphamon genuinely disliked. It was hard to imagine why. After all, Gallantmon was one of—if not _the-_ finest Knights in the order, a Paladin in name and deed, a truly heroic and noble spirit who believed in and lived up to the ideal of the Royal Knights before they became a laughingstock, honorable and valiant and just plain _good_ without the holier than thou attitude of someone like, say, Jesmon. With that said, whatever reason would Alphamon have to hate Gallantmon?

The answer was simple, and had nothing to do with the fact that he was married to a drop-dead gorgeous mage-Queen and had a loving family and rather sizable fanclub, though. Alphamon would be lying if he said that jealousy wasn't a part of it. No, Alphamon hated Gallantmon for the simple fact that he reminded him of everything the Royal Knights had once been, and would most likely never be again. He reminded Alphamon of what he himself used to be, before the decay set in. To look at Gallantmon was to see himself, through a bright mirror. He didn't like it very much.

Even so, Alphamon acknowledged that Gallantmon was one of the most reliable and trustworthy Knights in the order. Plus, kids loved him. Aside from the two he and Sakuyamon had borne, they had adopted plenty of orphans and kids from broken homes who'd found their way to their realm, and treated them all with the same love and compassion they showed to their own biological children. Meicoomon would be safe in their care.

"Do you think you'll be able to give her what she needs?" Alphamon asked, absolutely certain that he himself couldn't.

Gallantmon nodded. "While it would be awful to generalize, since every abused kid is different, she's not the first child we've encountered who was bullied and worse, just because of what she was. We can help her. Help her find peace with herself, accept who and what she is, whatever that may be. Find a way to use this weird power she's got for good."

"You can sense it too, right?" Alphamon asked his subordinate.

Goemon nodded. "Yeah. It's strong, _very_ strong, and a little scary. Still, I don't sense any malicious intent." He frowned. "Something about it seems a little… Familiar, somehow."

Alphamon nodded. "Yeah, I noticed that too. What's up with that? I know we've never met a Digimon like her before."

"Maybe Craniamon could figure something out?" Gallantmon suggested.

Alphamon made a face. "Given the way she talked about doctors, you really think she's going to be okay being scrutinized in a lab?"

"She might if you were there," Gallantmon said.

"… What's that supposed to mean?" Alphamon asked suspiciously.

"You have noticed? She's been looking to you for approval constantly. She wouldn't let Sakuyamon anywhere near her until you vouched for her. She trusts you," Gallantmon informed him.

Alphamon grimaced. "She shouldn't. She'll only be let down once she realizes the kind of person I really am."

"You beat the crap out of a DexDorugamon because he was insinuating you should use her as a plaything. You're the first person who's ever stood up for her. In her eyes, that makes you a hero," Gallantmon pointed out.

"… A hero? Me?" Alphamon scoffed. "We both know I haven't been a hero in a long time, Gallantmon. If she really thinks I'm one, she's only going to be disappointed. Just like pretty much everyone else in her entire life seems to have disappointed her.…"

"Maybe not," Gallantmon said enigmatically. "By the way, you really ripped off that DexDorugamon's wings?"

Alphamon winced. "Too much?"

"As a noble and honorable knight, I feel obligated to say yes. As a father, and because I really hate those rotten bastards, I give you two thumbs up," Gallantmon said with a chuckle. "Just don't make a habit of it."

"I make no promises," Alphamon said flatly.

"You know that there may be consequences for that, right?" Gallantmon pointed out.

"Yeah. Still don't regret it," Alphamon said firmly.

"Nor should you," Gallantmon agreed. "Heck, I'd have done even worse. Ripping off his wings is _restrained_ compared to what I would've done."

"You? Mister noble and honorable knight?" Alphamon asked in surprise.

"As I said, I'm also a father. There's _nothing_ I wouldn't do for my children, even if it meant breaking the knight's code," Gallantmon reminded his superior gravely. He frowned at him. "Why _did_ you react so strongly, anyway? I mean, yelling at him to get out I would expect from you, but beating him nearly half to death?"

"… Not entirely sure," Alphamon admitted. "I suppose it was the insinuation that, as far as I've fallen from what I once was, that he thought I'd sunken that far. I know I'm a failure, but I'm not… And never _will_ be… That kind of guy." He shrugged. "Plus, he had an incredibly punchable face."

"They really do," Alphamon agreed.

Sakuyamon found herself frowning again after finishing her evaluation of Meicoomon. "Some of these injuries you've had for quite some time. They never even bothered to treat you?"

"Only a little. Enough to keep me alive. They told me to walk off most of them," Meicoomon said in resignation.

"You must be in a great deal of pain," Sakuyamon said, doing her best to hide her outrage.

"I've… Gotten used to it," Meicoomon said quietly.

"You shouldn't have," Sakuyamon nearly snarled, restraining herself because she didn't want to scare the child. "Little one, may I heal you? It galls me to see anyone, especially a child, suffer so."

Meicoomon shot a glance at Alphamon, who, remembering Gallantmon's words, nodded, uncomfortably wondering to himself how it had come to pass that he had become a child's role model. "Will… Will it hurt?"

"Not at all," Sakuyamon promised. "I swore an oath on my magic to never harm the innocent, lest I lose my power and beauty and my DigiCore turn to sand. And no matter what you may think on the matter, child, that includes you as well."

Meicoomon again shot a quick glance at Alphamon, making him feel even more uncomfortable. After he hesitantly nodded at her, she reluctantly said, "If… If it won't hurt, then… I guess it's okay…"

The enchantress gave the feline a dazzling smile. "Wonderful." She opened her hand, and motes of light started to form, swirling and coalescing together to form a construct of purple flames resembling a Fox. Yawning, it uncurled from her palm, bright pink eyes blinking open as it looked at Meicoomon with curiosity. The child's jaw dropped, staring at the creature in wonder. "This is one of the many spirits of whom I hold dominion over," Sakuyamon explained. "Her name is Mika, and she's a spirit of light and life. She is one of the kindest and gentlest of my subjects. She will tend to your wounds, now and in the future."

Meicoomon blinked and gave Sakuyamon a confused and somewhat worried look. "In… The future?"

Sakuyamon nodded. "Yes. From this point forward, she is bonded to you. She will stay with you and be your companion in all things."

Meicoomon's eyes widened in disbelief. "You… You're just… Giving her to me?!"

Sakuyamon nodded. "My spirits go where they are needed. And right now, where she is needed most is with you."

Mika drifted out of Sakuyamon's hand, trailing small twinkling embers as she circled around the enraptured Meicoomon, giving her an appraising look. Seeming to like what he found, she glided in closer and nuzzled Meicoomon's cheek, the bruise there glowing and gradually fading away. Meicoomon stared at the spirit, stunned, and started crying in amazement and joy as the creature began to circle her once more, kissing and nuzzling and brushing up against the myriad bruises and injuries on her body, taking a little more hurt away from her with every contact.

"I see the two of you are to become fast friends," Sakuyamon chuckled, standing up. "If you don't mind, little one, I need to speak with my husband and your caretaker. Mica will take care of you in my absence."

Meicoomon, so awestruck by what was happening to her, by the fact that she actually had a _friend_ now, someone who wasn't hurting her, gave no sign that she heard her. Nodding in satisfaction, Sakuyamon turned away and walked towards the two knights, the smile on her face inverting with every step. "The harm that has been inflicted on that child is not inconsiderable," she hissed furiously. "A weaker Digimon would have died long before now. The fact that she has survived this long not only speaks to her strength and resilience, but also how _used_ she must be to this sort of treatment. The thought that other Digimon would be willing to do this to her, including those who were supposed to cherish and nurture her, is beyond the pale! About the only thing I'm certain has _not_ been done to her was rape, and even that is but a small comfort compared to everything else! When I find whoever did this to her…!"

"I might be willing to bend a few of my rules when I get my hands on them as well," Gallantmon growled.

"Finding them is going to be the hard part," Alphamon pointed out.

"Meicoomon doesn't know?" Gallantmon asked.

Alphamon shrugged. "She knows that she spent just about all of her hellish childhood in a Primary Village run by a Swanmon, but that doesn't really narrow it down. They also did some pretty nasty experiments to her in some lab, but she doesn't know where it was either."

"That's not good…" Gallantmon muttered.

"And that still leaves behind the bigger question of why," Alphamon continued. "I don't mean to trivialize child abuse or anything, but it's not like someone being hurt to the extent Meicoomon has been is… Unheard of."

"Regrettably," Sakuyamon said unhappily.

"So then why was she, out of all the other children in the world, picked out by Yggdrasil's goons and dropped on my doorstep? For that matter, why did they encourage me to be abusive towards her? What makes her so important to warrant attention from the big tree?" Alphamon went on. "And why, ultimately, was she given to _me?_ If they wanted her to be abused, why not just give her to one of the million bigger bastards than me out there? They'd have no qualms with hurting kids."

Gallantmon sighed. "There's still a lot we don't know."

"One way or another, we will find answers. There are many lines of inquiry I can pursue which may bear fruit," Sakuyamon promised. "But the power within her.… You sensed it as well, did you not?"

The two knights nodded. "Yeah, did it feel familiar to you as well?" Gallantmon asked his wife.

Sakuyamon nodded in agreement. "Yes, but I'm not sure why. She feels… She feels touched by evil, borne by evil, has the _potential_ for evil… But I do not believe that she herself is evil."

Alphamon nodded. "Yeah, I got the same vibe. Like, whatever's inside her is dangerous, but not… willfully malicious? Something like that?"

"But it could be under the right circumstances," Gallantmon agreed.

"Which means we must ensure that those circumstances never come to pass," Sakuyamon added. "Give her a loving and happy home. A healthy childhood and education, to stabilize her power and make sure she can control it at will and only uses it for good."

The thought of nipping the problem in the bud by killing her never crossed their minds. Well, it crossed Alphamon's, briefly, only for him to immediately dismiss it. Like he'd said, he wasn't that kind of guy. "Well, I'm sure you'll be able to do that just fine when you take her back home with you," Alphamon said confidently.

The other two looked at him in surprise. "You think we're taking her home with us?" Gallantmon asked.

Alphamon blinked. "Well…, Yeah. I assumed as much. I mean, that's what you two do with homeless and abused kids, right? Bring them back to your place, give them a home and a family, make them happy…"

"And you do not believe that you are capable of doing that on your own?" Sakuyamon queried.

Alphamon snorted. "What? Me? Don't be ridiculous! I'd say I'm the worst possible person here to take care of a kid, but Dynasmon exists. Even so, I'd make a terrible parent. She'd be much better off with you two."

"Perhaps," Sakuyamon admitted. "Then again, perhaps not. Somehow, I doubt that she would feel the same way-"

Behind them, Mica stiffened in the middle of healing a particularly nasty abrasion, sniffing Meicoomon in concern. "Wh-what is it?" Meicoomon asked anxiously. "Is something wrong?"

The spirit suddenly yelped in alarm, recoiling and racing over to Sakuyamon, much to the feline's dismay, a look of hurt and abandonment flickering across her face. Mica whispered something in Sakuyamon's ear, and she started. "She's _what?!_ " She cried in horror.

"What is it? What's wrong?" Gallantmon asked in concern.

"Is something wrong with her?" Alphamon asked, surprised at the sudden pang of fear rushing through him.

Sakuyamon looked up sharply. "We need to take her to Craniamon, immediately! According to Mica, Meicoomon's body is harboring a strange and powerful virus, one which threatens the stability of the entire digital world!"


	3. Craniamon's Analysis

Disclaimer: I don't own anything that doesn't belong to me.

...

"Fascinating," Craniamon whispered, staring at the lines and lines of code scrolling down his screen in awe. "This is unbelievable! I've never seen anything like this before!"

"Is that a good unbelievable or a bad unbelievable?" Gallantmon asked anxiously.

Alphamon snorted. "Since when is it ever the good kind?"

Meicoomon, sitting beside him on a cushion wearing a high-tech helmet covered in lights and switches connected to various immense and unfathomable machines scattered about Craniamon's lab, whimpered in fear. Alphamon quickly squeezed her hand, and she shot him a quick smile, her shaking subsiding slightly. Mica, who seem to have calmed down since arriving in the lab and hooking Meicoomon up to Craniamon's supercomputers, nuzzled the child, causing her smile to broaden a little.

After Sakuyamon's dread proclamation, they had raced Meicoomon down to Craniamon's laboratory for examination posthaste. It hadn't been easy convincing Meicoomon to go along with it, since she understandably was deathly afraid of being horrifically experiment on in a laboratory again, but they'd promised her that Craniamon wouldn't harm her in the slightest, and that if he did, Alphamon would kick his ass. Even then, she only agreed, and very reluctantly at that, to go along with it if Alphamon was there with her every step of the process to make sure she stayed safe.

Once again, the leader of the Royal Knights was flabbergasted by how much she seemed to trust in him. Nobody had had that much faith in him in an extremely long time.

"Her code is unlike anything I've ever seen before," Craniamon explained. "All Digimon are made of binary code, a recurring sequence of ones and zeros, just like humans are made of a recurring sequence of adenine, thymine, cytosine, and guanine."

"I thought humans were made of DNA," said a confused Gallantmon.

"Oh, they are. But DNA is made of four nitrogen bases, just like we're made of two digits," Craniamon exposited. He gestured at his screen. "Meicoomon, however, is made of ones, zeros, and _twos_! She is a creature of trinary, _not_ binary code! No Digimon has _ever_ had a two in their coding without it being some sort of freak mutation, and even then, there's just a small smattering of them. But she's got twos all over the place! She's a completely new form of life, a unique being unlike anything the digital world has ever seen before. It would be like humans making first contact with an alien species made of a completely different form of matter then they are! Well, other than us, that is. The ramifications of this are staggering!"

"While I can't say that's not intriguing, Craniamon, what does any of this have to do with the virus Mica detected?" Sakuyamon asked in concern.

"Hmm? The virus? Oh, yes, I'd almost forgotten. Don't worry, it's nothing for us to worry about," Craniamon said dismissively.

All four of them stared at the knight in disbelief. "Nothing for… Mica said it threatened the very stability of the digital world!" Sakuyamon protested.

"Are you questioning the veracity of my wife's spirits?" Gallantmon demanded.

"What? No, no, of course not! Er, I should've been clearer," Craniamon said apologetically. "The virus is dangerous, yes, but thankfully, none of us have anything to fear from it, because I already made a cure."

Alphamon blinked. "Wow, already? I have to say, Craniamon, that's impressive, even from you!"

"Hmm? Oh, no, you misunderstand. I didn't create the cure just now. I made it months ago," Craniamon corrected his leader.

"… How could you possibly have made a cure for whatever virus Meicoomon has months in advance of meeting her?" Asked a confused Gallantmon.

"Can… Can he see the future?" Meicoomon whispered in awe.

Craniamon chuckled. "Oh, heavens no! I'm a scientist, not a sorcerer like Sakuyamon! You see, it just so happens that this is not the first time I've encountered this virus. Alphamon, do you recall how, immediately after I concocted a cure for the X-antibody and spared poor Magnamon from a messy and unnecessary death, Gankoomon and Gallantmon both came down with new unidentified diseases?"

"Yes, I do," Alphamon recalled after a moment's thought. "And…" His eyes widened in alarm, and he glanced at Meicoomon. "Gankoomon said he'd gotten sick after getting attacked by a Digimon resembling a Maine Coon! Meicoomon, did… Did you attack Gankoomon?!"

Meicoomon cringed, her ears lying flat against her skull. "I… I don't know? Maybe? I-I don't know who that is."

"Big, muscular guy, wears a white jacket, has this giant yellow spirit thing rising up behind him…?" Gallantmon prompted.

Meicoomon whimpered and shrugged helplessly. "I… I might have… Sometimes, when my power goes out of control, I… I black out, and only wake up later, and everyone's even angrier me, saying I hurt a lot of people, but I only remember bits and pieces, and-" She cringed, clearly expecting to be struck at any moment. "I'm sorry I hurt your friend I didn't mean to honest it was an accident. Please forgive me-"

"It's okay," Alphamon said quickly, seeing she was on the brink of a panic attack. "You weren't in control of yourself. None of us blame you."

"Well, Gankoomon might-" Craniamon spoke up.

"Not helping," Gallantmon hissed.

"Er, right. Anyway, I was able to synthesize a cure for both of them," Craniamon continued. "Afterwards, I checked hospitals around the Digital World to see if similar cases had been reported elsewhere, to see if some sort of epidemic might be breaking out. Once I discovered that there had indeed been a number of outbreaks of Digimon exhibiting symptoms similar to Gankoomon's, I immediately synthesized and distributed as much of the cure as I could produce all over the world, as well as telling my various colleagues in the medical field how to make it for themselves, so we could nip this disease in the bud before it potentially brought ruin to our world. I also made sure to inoculate all of us and our loved ones to make sure that none of us could be infected by it again."

Meicoomon's eyes lit up with what might actually be hope. "Then… Then can you cure me too? So I won't hurt anyone anymore?"

"Regrettably, I cannot," Craniamon said apologetically, and the look of despair and resignation on Meicoomon's face was clearly so well-worn and familiar it nearly broke Alphamon's heart. "You aren't simply infected with this virus, Meicoomon. Your body is naturally _producing_ it. It is deeply embedded in every string of your code. It is a crucial part of you. To remove it would… Well, kill you as surely as giving the incredibly poisonous Beatrice Rappacini an antidote killed her."

"Who?" Asked a confused Alphamon.

"It's a very old story. You wouldn't have heard of it," Craniamon said dismissively.

"… Oh," Meicoomon whispered so softly iIt was almost inaudible. As Mica nuzzled her in concern, she started to say, "Maybe… Maybe it would be for the best. If it's the only way to protect the Digital World-"

"It most certainly is not!" Sakuyamon said angrily.

"We aren't going to kill you, Meicoomon," Gallantmon said firmly. "We're the Royal Knights. We don't murder children and say it was necessary for the greater good."

"Well, not unless ordered to aaaaand shutting up," Craniamon said quickly when everyone glared at him. "Anyway, there's no need to be dramatic. If the world is in danger of being infected by your virus, the simple solution – – other than kill you, that is – – is to simply vaccinate the entire world to be safe from you."

"That's simple?" Alphamon muttered.

"Wait, you said you developed a cure. But cures and vaccinations aren't the same thing," Sakuyamon pointed out.

Craniamon rolled his eyes. "I developed a cure for those infected _as well as_ a vaccine for those who hadn't. It would be irresponsible to do otherwise. Honestly, what sort of scientist do you take me for?"

"You probably don't want to hear the answer to that," Alphamon grunted.

"Actually… Craniamon, what kind of scientist _are_ you, anyway?" Gallantmon asked suddenly. "I mean, it seems like you seem to be able to handle whatever science-related needs anyone comes to you with. What did you get your PhD in again?"

"That's completely irrelevant to the discussion," Craniamon said quickly. "Anyway, by distributing the cure and the vaccine globally, I can make sure that Digimon everywhere are not at risk from being infected by Meicoomon's virus so that she need not fear risking the lives of everyone she comes into contact with…" His shoulders sagged. "Or at least, that was the idea."

"What do you mean by that?" Sakuyamon asked sharply as Meicoomon, who seemed to be getting her hopes up again, found them dashed once more, something she wasn't the least bit surprised by.

Craniamon shrugged. "Worldwide distribution isn't going as well as I would've hoped. In many places, it's been held back by committees who want to do further testing to make sure there aren't any harmful side effects before releasing it to the general public, despite my own rigorous testing indicating it's perfectly safe. Many politicians are making distribution a low priority, since they don't view the primary symptoms – – heightened aggression and an urge to kill all humans – – to be that big a deal."

"To be fair, there's plenty of that going around in the digital world _without_ a virus," Alphamon admitted. Gallantmon glared him.

"And _then_ , of course, there's all the moral guardians and concerned parents who are boycotting the vaccine because they're convinced that it will make their children mentally retarded," Craniamon complained with a dismissive snort.

Sakuyamon shook her head in disgust. "Those parents are the worst. Well, other than the actual abusers, that is."

"All that is bad enough, but it's hardly surprising," Craniamon continued. "That sort of thing always gets in the way of making sure medicine gets to the people who need it. What's really concerning, however, is the alarming number of incidents where the cure and vaccine seem to simply disappear. Many hospitals have reported that they never got the shipments they were promised, and in some that have, their entire supply of the cure was mysteriously destroyed before it could be administered to the people who needed it. It's been happening too often to be a simple accident. I believe that someone is deliberately sabotaging attempts to make the cure accessible to everyone."

"… Then you think someone is trying to make sure that the disease remains unchecked," Gallantmon said slowly.

"That's horrible!" Sakuyamon cried, shocked.

"Someone… Someone is trying to keep the people who've been hurt by me, directly or indirectly, from being helped?" Meicoomon asked, aghast.

"There are a lot of sick people in this world," Alphamon grunted. "And it seems that someone is trying to make them even sicker."

"Not only that… I suspect that they are responsible for making sure that disease has been spreading in the first place," Craniamon said, turning back to his computer. A few taps on his keyboard pulled up a map of the Digital World on his monitor, several flashing markers resembling Meicoomon's cross-shaped pupils clustered all over the place, with numerous lines of different colors connecting them. "As soon as I became aware that the disease was spreading, I began backtracing reports and hospital records to see if I could determine what the origin point of the outbreak was. The patient zero, or zeros, if you would. I was having difficulty filling in all of the data points, but now that I know Meicoomon is the source of the virus, I think I have a better view of the picture… And it's not pretty."

He pointed to a spot on the map where there was an unusually large number of flashing markers clustered together, with so many lines radiating from it that it resembled a web. "As far as I can tell, the first reported cases of Digimon coming down with the virus were either young Digimon, or the families of young Digimon, who had recently been adopted from a specific Primary Village. Even after cures and vaccines began to be distributed, an alarming majority of patients continued to hail from that region. And to make matters even more suspicious, that village has outright _refused_ any samples of the cure or vaccine.… That is, until a few days ago."

"That… That doesn't make sense," said a bewildered Sakuyamon. "All Primary Villages are required to have up-to-date vaccines and treatments on hand to ensure the children are always in perfect health. Even Villages in impoverished areas manage to have fairly decent healthcare. What you're suggesting is…"

"That someone was deliberately using a Primary Village, a source of birth and renewal, as a testing bed to spread a dangerous virus across the Digital World, using children as disease vectors? Yes, that's exactly what I'm suggesting," Craniamon said coldly.

Meicoomon's face was a rictus of horror. Beside her, Mica was growling with rage. "You…you mean…when I hurt the others, they…they _wanted_ me to hurt them, t-to make them bad, so they could…go out in the world and make _other people_ bad?! Th-that's… _that's…_!"

"Completely unforgivable," Gallantmon snarled, shaking with barely-contained fury.

"I shall inflict upon them the worst torments I can imagine," Sakuyamon said softly. "And then I shall send them to my sister, who shall inflict the worst torments _she_ can imagine on them. And then… Well, then I'll just have to get creative."

"Craniamon, give me the address of that Village," Alphamon commanded his subordinate. "I think I'm going to need to step out for a bit."

"You're taking the initiative on this, sir?" Craniamon asked in surprise as he automatically started printing out directions.

"Yes. Got a problem with that?" Alphamon snarled.

"No, of course not," Craniamon said quickly. "It's just… I can't remember the last time you've _ever_ willingly taken the lead on a mission."

"Yeah, well, I got involved when DexDorugamon dropped Meicoomon into my lap. Now it's personal. As unusual as it might be for me to say this, I'm going to do my damn best to see this through to the finish," Alphamon said gruffly.

"We're coming too," Gallantmon said firmly.

"Very well. But no smiting the wicked or condemning their souls to the fires of hell. At least, not until _after_ we've gotten a few questions answered," Alphamon said, cracking his knuckles.

"I make no promises," Sakuyamon said coolly.

Craniamon handed Alphamon the printout, and the leader of the Knights turned to leave… Only to feel a tug on his hand, and suddenly remember it was still being held by Meicoomon. "Y-you're leaving?!" she asked frantically, eyes wide.

 _Aw, crap_. "I'll only be gone for a little while," he told her uncomfortably. "I'll be back soon."

"B-but I'll be all alone!" Meicoomon insisted desperately. "I-I don't know anyone here, I-I don't know if I can trust them! It won't be safe!"

"You've nothing to fear, I will take care of you," Craniamon promised.

Meicoomon yelped and hid behind Alphamon. "Yeah, I don't think that reassured her," Alphamon said bluntly. He sighed and looked at Gallantmon and Sakuyamon. "I don't suppose either of you would be willing to stay behind-"

"NO! I don't want either of them! I want… I want _you_! Please… Please don't leave me…" She pleaded, tears welling up.

"I…" Alphamon swallowed and glanced at the others uncertainly. "Should we take her with us?"

"I don't really think taking her back to the place where she's been abused for most of her life is the best idea," Gallantmon said.

Alphamon sighed. "Yeah, that's what I thought." He turned back to Meicoomon and crouched down so he could look for more closely into her eyes. "Meicoomon, I'm sorry, but I have to go. And I can't take you with me, because… Well, do you really want to go back to the Primary Village where you've spent your entire childhood?"

Meicoomon swallowed and vehemently shook her head. "N-no, I don't want to go back! I never want to go back!… But w-why do you have to go?"

"Because a great wrong has been committed. You've been used and abused by unknown parties who've been using you to threaten the entire Digital World," Alphamon explained. "If I go to the Village where all this took place, I might find clues as to who's behind all this and make sure they face justice for everything they've done. You don't want to let them get away with everything, do you?"

"N-no, but… Why do _you_ have to go?" Meicoomon begged. "Can't you just… Send the others, and stay here?"

Alphamon hesitated. He wanted to tell her how the thought had crossed his mind. How he'd be lying if he said he wouldn't feel more confident about her safety if he were there himself. How for a very long time, he had been content to do nothing but sit in his office and stew in his resentment while everyone else went off on missions around the world, and couldn't bring himself to do the same thing this time. How he was a part of this now, and if he were to just stay behind like he did all those other times, he would never be able to forgive himself.

And yet… When he looked into her desperate, frightened eyes, he found himself unable to voice all this. What sort of power had this child, whom he'd only known for a couple of hours, gained over him? "I…"

"Alphamon," Gallantmon said quietly. "We can take care of this. If you want to stay here, go ahead."

Startled, Alphamon glanced up at his subordinate. "I… Are you certain? But I-"

"It's fine," Sakuyamon assured him. "We can handle it. And besides… Right now, you're needed more here."

Trying and failing to find the strength to protest, Alphamon glanced down at Meicoomon, at the desperate, pleading hope in her eyes, and in an instant knew he was undone. Shoulders sagging in defeat, he nodded and glanced back at Gallantmon and his wife gratefully. "Thank you. Both of you. And, uh, you don't think less of me for staying behind?"

"Being a father is often a far greater duty than being a knight," Gallantmon said solemnly.

"I'm not her father," Alphamon said gruffly.

"Not yet, anyway," Sakuyamon said with a gentle smile. He scowled at her.

"Here, this is the address," Alphamon said, handing Gallantmon the printout Craniamon had given him. "Go there and find out what you can, but be discrete. No guns blazing, no matter how much all of us may want it. And keep me in the loop, okay? I want to know everything you find out. _Everything_. No matter how badly you might be tempted to do so, I don't want you taking any action without my say so. Am I clear?"

"As crystal," Gallantmon said with a nod, looking at Alphamon with what he could almost swear was respect in his eyes. It felt strange. Alphamon couldn't remember the last time he'd seen that look before.

"I will continue examining Meicoomon's code and looking over the data I already have on the virus," Craniamon spoke up. "See what I can discover. Maybe give us a clue as to why she has the abilities she does, and who's behind all this."

"M-more tests?" Meicoomon asked anxiously.

"No, the sample you gave me should be sufficient for the time being," Craniamon assured her, causing her to relax a little. "Although I might need more later, depending on my initial results."

"We'll talk about it when the time comes," Alphamon said warily, noticing how nervous Meicoomon looked. "And I…uh… I…" Alphamon faltered. What exactly was he supposed to do with Meicoomon? Once again, he cursed himself for having no idea how to deal with children.

Abruptly, Meicoomon's stomach growled. The feline looked apologetic and embarrassed, and Alphamon realized that, on top of everything else that had been done to the girl, she'd probably been malnourished as well. "I… Will get Meicoomon something to eat! And then we'll…um… Go back to my quarters and watch television or something." He shot a glance at Gallantmon and Sakuyamon, who nodded slightly at him, encouraging him that he'd made the right choice. Getting a little more confidence, he said, "I suppose I could give you a tour of the Castle while we're at it, though… You, uh, you probably would be happier staying away from strange Digimon you don't know, right?"

"I…" Meicoomon gripped his hand tighter, swallowed, and then said, "So… So long as you're with me… I… I think I'd be okay with just about anything…"

Alphamon didn't need to look at the others to know that they were smiling at him. _Fuck,_ he thought with slowly dawning horror as Mica trilled happily and started circling his head, as if acknowledging his connection to her mistress. _They were right. I've just become a father._


	4. But seriously, stay away from Dynasmon

Disclaimer: I don't own anything that doesn't belong to me. The joke at the end is inspired by a comic I saw by Neodusk on Deviantart.

...

 _I've become a father._

"Okay, while I understand that, for some reason, you've convinced yourself that I'm a hero worth sticking around with, in the case that I'm not around-"

"W-why wouldn't you be around?"

"Because, realistically, I can't be with you every waking and sleeping second of every day. I mean, you wouldn't want me in the bathroom with you when you have to go, right? Er, wait, you are toilet trained, right?"

"Y-yeah."

"Oh, thank ENIAC, I did NOT want to have to deal with diapers and toilet training."

 _I've become a father._

"Similarly, no matter how much you might want to, you can't come with me everywhere I go."

"Like when _you_ need to use the bathroom?"

"I was thinking more along the lines of when I have to go to work, but since both things involve heaping amounts of shit, I can see why you'd think they were similar."

"Why can't I come to work with you?"

"You remember that office were we first met, Meicoomon? You remember all those piles and piles of paperwork? Well, I hate to break it to you, but not every day can be as exciting as me ripping the wings off of a real piece of shit. Most of the time I need to sit behind that desk and fill out ream after ream of paperwork for hours, or go to meetings, or have to stand and look pretty for pictures of me shaking hands with important dignitaries."

"That sounds boring."

"Oh, you have no idea. I loathe doing it with every fiber of my being."

"If you hate it, then why do you do it?"

"Because, Meicoomon, I'm a grown-up, and part of being a grown-up means spending most of your life doing horrendous amounts of busy work that you utterly despise for reasons that, honestly, aren't entirely clear. Pray that when you grow up, you manage to avoid that fate."

 _How did this happen?_

"And so, since I don't want you to be literally bored to death sitting in my office being quiet while I fill out paperwork all day, you're going to need to learn to trust some of the other people around here to keep you company while I'm occupied. I know you're having trouble trusting in other Digimon, and I can understand why, but not everyone is out to get you, and I can personally guarantee that some of the other Knights are, no matter how much am I complain about them, pretty swell most of the time, and would probably be good company for you. Of course, we should probably try and get you to interact with kids your own age, but we'll have to take that up with Gallantmon and Sakuyamon. Though I think Beelzemon has some kids who are about as old as you are, too…"

"D-do I really have to?"

"As much as I hate to say it, and I'm sure you'll hate hearing it, it's really for your own good. The only people in your life can't be just me and Mica, and between the two of us, I'd personally prefer the spirit. And, if you're going to be living here with me instead of moving away to Sakuyamon's kingdom like you probably should…"

"I don't want to leave."

"Well, then, you're going to have to learn to interact with others. So, with that said, off the top of my head, you can trust… Let's see…"

 _I don't know anything about being a father. What am I doing?_

"Gallantmon, obviously. He's great with kids, has kids of his own, and has already become part of your life. He can be counted on to help, no matter what. After him, I'd probably pick Omnimon. He's a good, solid second-in-command, and a far better right hand than I deserve. Although, um, if you ever hear him argue with himself, don't worry, he isn't going insane, it's just the two personalities that DNA Digivolved together to create him having difficulty remaining in sync due to an imperfect fusion. Craniamon will also do everything he can to keep you safe, and not just because you're his new favorite test subject, although I'd be lying if I said that weren't part of it. Still, if he needs to go to his lab, I would highly recommend you not go with them."

"B- because he'll do tests on me?"

"No, because there's a good chance something will explode, and I'd rather you not get hurt. You've already suffered too much already. Let's see… Anyone else…hmm. That's troubling."

"W-what is?"

"Having a little trouble thinking of any other Royal Knights you should be safe around. Examon is a good guy, but I'd be a little uneasy leaving you with him for protracted periods of time, since he's actually a LOT bigger than he looks, and despite all Craniamon's assurances that there's nothing wrong with the file compression program he used to shrink him down to our size, all of us are a little worried that one day it'll malfunction and he'll swell back to his true mass and accidentally squish us."

"I don't want to be squished!"

"Neither do I, Meicoomon. Neither do I."

 _I never wanted to be a father! I don't even like kids! How did this happen?!_

"Normally, I'd recommend Kentarousmon as well, since he's pretty reliable, but right now he's got his hands full dealing with several relatives who've moved in with him, and they're a bit rambunctious and I'm pretty sure you don't want to be anywhere near a huge crowd of loud and frenetic people."

"N-no, I don't."

"Thought so. You should stay out of his way until they're gone. Whenever that is…anyway, then there's…um… UlforceVeedramon? You know, I've known the guy for a while, but I honestly can't think of much to say about him. I'm not even positive he has a personality. I know he more or less raised his cousin Magnamon, but given he was also willing to kill the guy-"

"What?!"

"Long story. But yeah, on second thought, I don't want you anywhere near him."

 _I have no idea what I'm doing. This has to be some sort of mistake. What was I thinking?!_

"Speaking of Magnamon, I want you to stay away from him. He's the weakest and most pathetic member of our order and an even bigger failure than me, and I don't want you catching any of his loserness in case it's contagious. Or any of his STDs."

"His what?"

"Not covering that. Also, his armor has a tendency to explode for no apparent reason, so really, he's a walking safety hazard. Stay the hell away from him."

"O-okay."

 _Is it too late to do something about this? Maybe I should give her to Gallantmon and Sakuyamon after all. I'm sure they'd be happy to have her. She'd be way better off with them than with me._

"And on that note, there are a few other Knights you should try to avoid if at all possible. Leopardmon might seem alright at first glance, but he's actually got deep-seated anger problems related to his ridiculously embarrassing name and body odor, and it doesn't take much to set him off. If you run into him, don't say or do anything that might lead him to believe you think his name is stupid or that he smells like a dumpster fire, it will make him really angry."

"Does he?"

"Does he what?"

"Smell like a dumpster fire?"

"Oh yeah, definitely. It's his natural musk. Can't be helped. Kind of a shame. Let's see, aside from him, there's also Jesmon. Jesmon is… He's friendly and chivalrous, but he's also sort of… Super religious due to being raised by nuns, and that rubs me the wrong way."

"Why?"

"Aside from the fact that he's always praising Yggdrasil- who, take it from me, isn't worth it – – and the fact that there's a lot of stuff Yggdrasil orders us to do that Jesmon is morally against, but would do it anyway just because a tree told him to? The problem with religion, Meicoomon, is that people can use it to justify the most horrific atrocities. So long as they think their God is okay with it, they've got absolutely no problem killing, raping, or torturing people whose only crime is being different from them. If you're going to do evil shit, own up to the fact that it's horrible, don't lie to yourself that you're going to go to heaven for it. Also, his mode change is a ridiculous-looking magical girl Knight form, and that's just wrong."

 _Now I just have to sell Meicoomon on the idea. Okay, I'll tell her this was a mistake and I'm going to give her to Gallantmon and Sakuyamon to take care of. Right… Now._

"But if they are ANY Knights you should absolutely avoid, I mean, turn the other way and run if you see them walking down the hall, are Crusadermon and Dynasmon."

"W-why? What's wrong with them?"

"Well, Crusadermon hates other women, which is hypocritical because she's one herself. She's incredibly vain, and for years has been trying to keep as many female Digimon away from our headquarters and out of our ranks as possible because she's paranoid that we'll think other girls will be prettier than she is. If she sees you, she'll make all sorts of awful passive-aggressive comments about how you're ugly and stupid and will never be as beautiful or popular as she is. If she says anything hurtful to you, keep in mind that it's not true, and she's just projecting, and secretly is afraid that you WILL be more beautiful and popular than her, and is willing to do anything to keep you from realizing it. Also, she fancies herself an artist, which she… Isn't, really. And doesn't accept criticism well when that's pointed out to her."

"Oh my."

 _… Why am I not saying it to her?_

"And then there's Dynasmon. Just… Dynasmon. Dear programmers, where do I even begin with that guy? He's just… He's the worst, okay? The absolute worst. Like excrement given Digimon form, without being a Sukamon. He's stupid, selfish, cruel, petty, and incompetent. An overwhelming amount of the work I have to do comes from cleaning up the messes he causes. Honestly, the Digital World would be better off if he were to drop dead."

"Wh-why is someone like that part of the Royal Knights?!"

"Because, unfortunately, we're legally required to have a Dynasmon in our ranks whenever possible. Unfortunately, right now he's the only one currently active in the Digital World, so we can't get rid of him until another one shows up. Of course, there's no guarantee that the next guy won't be just as bad or worse, but… Anyway, just stay away from Dynasmon. End of story. Oh, and if you see him with a megaphone, come running for me or any of the other Knights I've told you to trust and tell them right away. I cannot emphasize this enough, Meicoomon. Dynasmon plus megaphone equals very, VERY bad things. If he somehow got his hands on one, the lives of thousands if not millions of people are in jeopardy, and someone responsible has to be informed so they can stop him before it's too late."

"O-okay."

"… Wow, you know, now that I've said all this out loud, it just occurred to me that our headquarters really is not a safe place for a child."

"I-it's okay. It still sounds safer then Primary Village."

"… That saddens me on so many levels."

 _It's the simplest thing! Open mouth, tell her she can't stay here! I just pointed out it's not safe!_

"Anyway, that's pretty much all the Knights. I'm not as familiar with our staff, but I'm certain we can find plenty of Digimon among them you can trust-"

"Wasn't there another one?"

"Hmm? Another one?"

"Another Knight. You know… The one I… Hurt?"

"… Oh. Right. Um. Well, normally I'd say you could rely on Gankoomon, but given that you DID injure and infect him, it might be a bit awkward for you to be around him for a while-"

"Awkward for whom?" Gankoomon asked, suddenly interrupting the conversation.

Alphamon stiffened as the incredibly masculine red-haired warrior stepped out into the hallway, his ever-present companion Hinukamuy looming over him. Meicoomon, who'd been riding on Alphamon's shoulder, cringed and tried to hide behind his head. The monstrous spirit leered at her, until Mica lunged into his face, snarling. Startled, Hinukamuy quickly bowed his head in apology and backed off, making signs of obeisance to the Fox, who he recognized as far more powerful and higher up the spiritual hierarchy than he was.

"Gankoomon," Alphamon hesitantly said. "What a surprise. What, um, are you doing here?"

"… I live here," Gankoomon replied, nodding at the room he'd just vacated, which, sure enough, were his quarters. "What are you doing here? And who is that companion of yours? Something about her seems familiar…"

"Nobody important, just watching her for her mother, giving her a tour of the base, now if you'll excuse me, I'd better get back to doing that-" Alphamon said quickly, trying to push past the bancho.

Gankoomon snapped his fingers. "Wait, I recognize her now! That's the Digimon that wounded and infected me a while back!"

 _Fuck._ "Gankoomon," Alphamon said slowly. "The situation is kind of complicated, so before you do anything-"

"I-I'm sorry," Meicoomon interjected, ears folded back against her head, a look of regret and anxiety on her face. "I-I didn't mean to hurt you, or infect you. I just… I can't help it, there's something wrong with me, and I can't always control myself, and when I lose control I hurt people, and I don't want to, and I'm really sorry please don't-"

"Whoa, whoa, hang on!" Gankoomon interrupted. "Relax, kid. I'm not going to hurt you."

Meicoomon blinked. "Y-you're not?"

"You aren't angry at her for wounding and infecting you?" Alphamon asked warily.

"No! Well, okay, I wasn't exactly fond of the whole infection business, but I'm not the kind of guy to hold a grudge, and honestly? I'm more impressed by your strength then the virus. I'm a pretty tough Digimon if I do say so myself, and it takes a lot to hurt me as badly as you did, let alone infect me with something. As a Digimon with an appreciation for power, I can respect anyone strong enough to do that… Especially one as low as level as you! What are you, a Rookie?"

"Champion, actually," Meicoomon confessed nervously.

"Really? Well, that doesn't change the fact that I'm seriously impressed. Just by looking at you, I can sense you have vast, untapped potential… You know, since Jesmon graduated, I've kinda been looking for a new pupil. How would you like to be my student? I could teach you how to harness that strength of yours, put it to some good use," Gankoomon offered.

Meicoomon flinched back, ears folding back against her head. "N-no! I don't want this power. I don't want to hurt anyone with it. I want nothing to do with it!"

"That doesn't change the fact that it's a part of you," Gankoomon argued. "And if you don't know how to use it, what's to stop you from going out of control again, and hurting someone else? Wouldn't you rather learn how to tame this power, and make sure it never harms anyone again?"

Meicoomon hesitated. "I… Well…"

"Let's not get too far ahead of ourselves," Alphamon interjected. "Gankoomon, no offense, but I'm not 100 percent sure you're the best fit for this. Especially with how big of a disappointment your LAST student was."

"Jesmon isn't a disappointment!" Gankoomon protested.

"Pretty Pink Princess Mode," Alphamon said flatly.

Gankoomon flinched. "… That's a low blow, mon."

"Doesn't change the fact that you let those nuns convince him it would be a good idea right under your nose," Alphamon pointed out. "Or that you somehow failed to notice that he had a massive crush on you for years."

"… Okay, I'll admit I wasn't as observant as I should have been," Gankoomon admitted. "But I won't make that mistake this time. Alphamon, I believe I can make something great out of this child, if I just have the chance."

Alphamon glanced at Meicoomon, who seemed uncertain. "We'll discuss this at a later date," he said gruffly. "In any event, Sakuyamon has first claim on training her to use her abilities. You'll have to take it up with her and Gallantmon. And remember, the kid has final say. This is her life we're talking about."

"Fair enough," Gankoomon conceded. He cocked his head. "So, what's she doing here, anyway?"

"Long story. Short version is that Meicoomon will be staying with us for… Now. There's a lot about her we're trying to figure out. There's some kind of conspiracy afoot that's been using her to distribute the same virus she infected you with all over the Digital World using kids from a Primary Village as disease carriers," Alphamon explained.

Gankoomon's teeth clenched. "Seriously?! That's… That's just _sick_. Anything I can do to help?"

"Craniamon is already doing some digging into her data and Gallantmon and Sakuyamon are riding out to investigate the village she came from," Alphamon explained. "I'm not sure what you could do… Unless… Do you think you could talk to your husband about this?"

"My-" Gankoomon stiffened, bristling in rage. "You aren't seriously suggesting that the Seven Great Demon Lords are behind this, are you?!"

"Oh, heavens no," Alphamon said quickly. "They aren't nearly competent enough to do something as sophisticated as this. But, given their connections, there's a chance they might've heard something we haven't."

"… I'll ask him," Gankoomon said grudgingly. "Probably a longshot, but this sounds too important to neglect any possible leads, especially where innocent kids are involved. I'll call him now, and let you know if he tells me anything. Meicoomon, it was nice meeting you, and if you ever change your mind about training, well, you know where I am."

With a brief salute, he went back into his room. "He seemed…nice," Meicoomon said quietly after a moment.

"He's not that bad," Alphamon admitted as they continued on the hallway. "Still, if he tries to push the training issue too hard, let me know and I'll sort him out."

"Okay," she said. "Um… Do you … Do you think that I _should_ train with him?"

Alphamon considered this for a moment. "While his methods might be effective, I think they're going to be a bit too… Intense for you right now. Given everything that's happened to you, you'll probably want something gentler and relaxing, like… Meditation or whatever mystical stuff Sakuyamon intends to do with you. Uh, is that okay with you?"

"I… That might be nice," Meicoomon said hesitantly. "I-I wouldn't mind spending more time with her, I guess."

"I'll be there as much as I can, if that'll make you feel better," Alphamon promised. "And we aren't going to force you do anything you don't want, okay? After all that's happened to you, you deserve a say in what happens to you going forward."

She smiled shyly. "Thank you. I-I really… thank you."

"No problem. Anyway, this is us," Alphamon said, stopping in front of another door. "Home sweet home."

They entered the room. The quarters of the leader of the Royal Knights were oddly Spartan. There was a large bed with black sheets and pillows in gold trim sized for him, a nightstand with a lamp and a tablet, a stand for him to put his armor when he wasn't wearing it, two doors, one of which was a closet and the other led to the bathroom, a bookshelf full of books that hadn't appeared to be touched in a while, and a large television mounted on the wall. There were no paintings, no pictures, no trophies or anything else beyond the armor stand and items on the nightstand to make it look like this was a room that saw frequent use or belonged to someone, rather than some place for you might put up guests for a while.

"Sorry that there's not much here," Alphamon apologized as he closed the door behind them. Meicoomon hopped off his shoulder, looking around the room with wide eyes, Mica poking around the quarters and sneezing when some dust from the bookshelf got in her nose. "I… Don't really spend a lot of time here. I'm usually too exhausted after a long day of work to do anything more than undressing and go to bed. I can't even remember what chapter I was on in the book I was reading." He frowned. "Or for that matter, which book I was reading."

"It's a lot nicer than the room I got back at the Village," she told him in a tone of amazement.

Alphamon cringed. "Yes, ah, I suppose it would be. Anyway, until other accommodations can be made, I guess you'll be staying here with me. You should be honored, or at least, you should be if there was anything honorable about being here. You're probably the first person other than me and the cleaners to come in here in… Well, possibly ever."

"You never have anyone else over?" Meicoomon asked, looking at him in surprise. "No friends, no family?"

"I see enough of the few people I would consider friends on a daily basis at work to want them to intrude upon my private life, minimal as it might be," Alphamon grunted. "As for family… Well, that's totally out of the question."

Meicoomon looked him sympathetically. "Oh. You're… Like me, then. You don't have a family…"

"Huh?" Alphamon asked, surprised. "Oh no, I do have a family. They just don't come over because I hate them more than I hate anyone in the Digital World, including myself, and possibly Dynasmon."

Meicoomon looked at him in surprise. "Really?"

Alphamon nodded furiously. "Really. Meicoomon, my family are the cruelest, vilest, most sadistic bunch of evil bastards that have ever blighted the face of the Digital World, worse than any villain that's ever tried to conquer or destroy it in the past. My cousins are all sadistic degenerates who've committed just about every sin imaginable, and a few that aren't. My brother is a monster so horrific that calling him one is an insult to other monsters. And my father… Oh, don't get me started on my father. Dear old dad is the worst person I've ever had the misfortune to meet, and if he were to die, the Digital World would automatically become a much better place by virtue of him not being in it. They're all the absolute worst, and deserve to die a horrible excruciating death, and I'd be more than happy to do the deed myself if given half the chance and if I believed I could actually pull it off. I _wish_ I were an orphan, because it would be preferable to being related to those walking atrocities." He sighed. "Heck, I technically was an orphan for most of my early life. Didn't even meet my family until later. Before then, the Royal Knights were the closest thing I had to family. But… Well, that was a long time ago."

"You… Don't think of them that way anymore?" Meicoomon asked quietly, clearly startled by Alphamon's rant about his family.

He shook his head wearily. "No, I haven't for a long time. It's… Do you know the story of how the Royal Knights began? No, I suppose you wouldn't. Not many people do these days." He sat on his bed and patted the bedspread beside him. Meicoomon quickly scurried up the side to sit beside him, eyes bright and eager, Mica curling up in her lap. He pretended not to notice how her claws had torn into the sheets. He'd been meaning to replace them anyway. "A long, long time ago, the Digital World was in dire straits, worse than it'd ever been, and worse than it has been since. Evil wasn't just on the rise, it was at its apex. Hope was dead. Light was all but extinguished. Times were so dark even the sun cast a shadow, and no, I don't know how that worked either, it's the Digital World, weird shit happens all the time. Things were so bad, Digimon were killing themselves and hoping they wouldn't be reborn, just to get away from it all.

"And then, a great warrior appeared. Unlike everyone else, he believed there was still a chance to save the Digital World, and restore it to the way it had once been. And this great hero was-"

"You?" Meicoomon interrupted.

"What? No, of course not," Alphamon said, startled. "It was the founder of our order, and my mentor, Imperialdramon Paladin Mode. Not to be confused with our official transport and occasional giant mecha. He was the real deal, a true hero, someone even Gallantmon could take notes from. He'd probably be so disappointed in how we've turned out, especially me. If he could see me now…" He sighed briefly. "Anyway, he knew that the world couldn't be saved by just him. He traveled the length and breadth of the Digital World, searching for others like himself, who hadn't given up the fight. He gathered 13 Digimon together – – and yes, one of them was me – – trained them, and forged them together into a team of unstoppable ultimate saviors, the original Royal Knights. Together, we rode out to battle, again and again. It was hard, _very_ hard, and more than once it looked like we would fail, but eventually, we managed to vanquish the forces of evil and return the light to the Digital World… But only at great cost. Many of our friends and allies were slain the process, including our founder. As Imperialdramon's successor, it fell to me to lead my remaining brethren and help restore order to the digital world. While there was some talk of disbanding once that arduous task was complete, I argued otherwise, believing that we should stay active as a peacekeeping force and watch group, just in case evil of this magnitude ever returned. A formal charter was drawn up, we got new recruits to replace those we lost, and with the support of governments around the world, we stood vigilant and ready for the next great threat to materialize. Only…"

"Only what?" Meicoomon asked.

He shrugged. "The next great threat never appeared. Oh sure, new evil raised its ugly head now and then to cause trouble, but nothing on the sheer magnitude of scale that we had been founded to stop. We did our best to fight these evils, of course, but after a while it became clear that local heroes or law enforcement could handle most of the trouble by themselves. It was looking more and more like we were no longer necessary to the defense of the Digital World, and many of our backers quietly started withdrawing their support, while several of my old comrades either retired or died, and not all of their positions were immediately filled.

"Desperate to prove we were still relevant, I started ranging further and further from headquarters, searching for new villains to throw down or prospective champions to train to join the order and fill the seats that had been left empty, but to no avail. As I spent more and more time away from base, I earned the nickname 'Lord of the Empty Throne,' because I was away more often than not. And, due to my negligence, the order started to decay. Our budget got slashed again and again; more and more Knights quit or died and were replaced by increasingly inadequate successors, the media increasingly made fun of us as a useless relic of a bygone age that nobody cared about anymore…

"And then one day, on one of the rare occasions I actually bothered to show up for the meeting, I suddenly realized I didn't recognize any of the people at the table. All of my old friends were gone. I was the only one left from when we had begun, the only one who remembered the battles we'd fought and the sacrifices we made, the only one who had even heard of our founder and still remembered what it meant to be a Knight… And even those memories were starting to dwindle as time went on. Slowly I began to resent them, and those who inevitably replaced them, for being such shallow limitations of my fallen comrades, too young and inexperienced to understand real duty or honor and mostly wanted the position for its perks, not its responsibilities. I grew to resent the Digital World as well, for turning its back on us and no longer needing us. I even considered, for a moment, disbanding the Knights, but never went through with it, partly because I didn't want to destroy the last piece of Imperialdramon's legacy… But mostly because I was stubborn and angry and didn't want to give everyone else. The satisfaction of being proven right about us not being important anymore. I made more and more compromises to keep us up and running, made increasingly futile and desperate attempts to try and mold the others into Knights worthy of the name, even went so far as to whore us out to Yggdrasil…

"And then one day, I looked in the mirror and realized I didn't recognize the Digimon looking back. That I, too, was but a hollow pretender compared to the person I once was. That I'd failed, completely and utterly, to preserve the good name of the Royal Knights, squandered any chance of restoring our former glory, and ruined the last bit of good Imperialdramon had done for this world, and for me. And, in that moment, I grew to hate myself for being a bigger failure than all the other so-called Knights in our order. And just like that, I… Gave up. On everything. Steeped in resentment and apathy and self-loathing, I stopped caring about myself or others and longed for nothing more than the sweet embrace of death, so that the long disgrace that was my life could finally come to an end." He shrugged nonchalantly. "And that's basically how I've been ever since."

Meicoomon stared him, stunned. Mica nuzzled Alphamon in sympathy. "… I think that's the saddest story I've ever heard, and I've been told for years that I'm an ugly stupid little monster who nobody will ever love."

"The wonderful thing about life, Meicoomon, is that somewhere out there there's always someone who's got it worse off than you," Alphamon said sagely. "A word of advice, kid. Never sell out, and whatever I did that made me who I am today, always do the exact opposite. You can't possibly do anything but succeed if you manage to do that."

"I'll… Keep that in mind," Meicoomon said, looking disturbed. Mica whimpered.

"Anyway," Alphamon said loudly, deciding this would probably be a good time to change the subject, as well as keep himself from wondering for too long why, exactly, he'd opened himself up like that. He wasn't sure if he'd _ever_ told anyone all that before. "The food I called ahead for should be arriving shortly. So, the meantime, why don't we find something on television? We can stream just about any show in both worlds, including stuff that's kid-friendly, so… I don't suppose there's anything you'd like to watch? Er, supposing they let you watch anything back at the Village…"

"Well… Um…" Meicoomon blushed and looked away. "Before… Before things got bad, and they wouldn't let me near the television anymore, there was… _One_ show I really liked. It was really nice, with lots of great songs and colorful friendly likable characters. I only got to see a few episodes, but it was really good, and… I, um, wouldn't mind seeing more, if that's okay…"

"Great," Alphamon said in relief, reaching for the remote. "Let's see if we can find it. Something nice and fluffy and child-friendly should help us get our minds off of our respective emotional turmoil and miserable pasts."

A few hours later…

Alphamon, Meicoomon, and Meicoomon stared at the screen, a seemingly never ending flow of tears streaming down their cheeks.

 _"Sometimes, I wonder if she can see me through your eyes…"_ Whispered the tall, pale, slender humanoid figure on the screen to the considerably shorter curly-haired boy sitting next to her.

 _WHY IS EVERYONE CRYING. WHY AM I CRYING. CAN THE CRYING STOP NOW,_ Alphamon thought desperately.

Another solid minute of emotional music started playing.

 _GODDAMMIT._


	5. Swan song

…

Primary Village DX-17, like many of its ilk, looked like a child's dream. The ground was made of elastic, the buildings were made of huge stuffed building blocks with no sharp edges, shimmering rainbow-hued trees had toys and stuffed animals dangling from the branches, there were large, soft spongy hills to bounce on, and large green fields surrounded the settlement. Baby, In-Training, and even a few Rookie Digimon happily frolicked and cavorted about, while a few dozen gentle, nurturing, non-threatening teenaged and adult Digimon played with and kept a close eye on the children, tending to their needs and making sure none of them got bored or accidentally broke the myriad Digi-Eggs nesting all over the place. It was a place of wonder and delight, where no evil or sadness could possibly exist.

Well, that's what it looked like on the surface, anyway. The two powerful Digimon observing the village from above, protected by a spell of invisibility, had it on good authority there was more to the place than met the eye, and were determined to find out whatever hidden secrets it was concealing.

Unfortunately, so far the search had turned up lacking.

Sakuyamon, perched on one of the wings of her husband's trusty steed Grani, frowned as she stared at the village below through the central ring of her khakkhara, the smaller rings flicking into view one after the other, each providing a different sort of magical filter through which she could gaze at the world beneath. Gallantmon stood behind her, hands gently wrapped around her waist to keep her stable. He knew she didn't need the support, of course. After all, even if she fell – – which was unlikely, her balance was perfect – – she was fully capable of flight. It didn't matter to him. She was his lady, and he was her knight. And besides, even during a serious situation like this, how could he possibly turn down an excuse to draw closer to the woman he loved, to press her curvaceous form to his, to breathe in her scent and feel her long hair brush against his armor?

She had said nothing when he put his arms around her. Partly because she was distracted focusing on the enhanced view provided by her khakkhara, and partly because she also needed no excuse to be closer to her husband. Sakuyamon's frown deepened. "Hmm."

"Hmm?" Her husband echoed.

The sorceress sighed and relaxed her grip on her scepter, smaller rings clacking to the sides. "Well, I couldn't see any secret dungeons or torture chambers or laboratories. I also didn't see any traces of blood or hair or data matching Meicoomon's. I can't even find a hint of her aura. If this is the place where they were keeping her, they've scrubbed it of her presence so completely it's like she was never here."

"Or, this is the wrong village," Gallantmon suggested. He didn't really believe it, though.

Neither did Sakuyamon. "All the data and my divination points to this being the right place. Which means that whoever's behind this has alarmingly vast and powerful resources to fall back on to pull off a cover-up this thorough."

"That doesn't bode well…" Gallantmon murmured.

A half-dozen or so of Sakuyamon's colorful kuda-gitsune spirits flew up from the village and hovered before their mistress, bowing their heads in obeisance before giving their reports. Sakuyamon's frown deepened further. Gallantmon hated it when she frowned. He thought it took away from her lovely features. "How bad is it?" He asked.

"For the most part, the emotional spectrum of the Village is what you might expect. Lots of joy and love. However, it seems to be alarmingly brittle, a fragile shell papering over a gaping chasm of guilt and sorrow," Sakuyamon informed him.

"… Yeah, this is definitely the place," Gallantmon said after a moment. "We need to get down there, now."

Sakuyamon nodded in agreement. "Agreed. However, we can't just walk in there. One of the most esteemed members of the Royal Knights, along with the mythical Fox Queen? That will raise all sorts of alarms. We don't want Swanmon running for the hills before we have a chance at her."

"Nor do we want whoever's behind this knowing we're here," Gallantmon concurred. "Or they might try something a bit more drastic to keep from being discovered. Like, say, wiping the village off the face of the map."

"Take us down a few miles away," Sakuyamon suggested. "I believe I have an idea."

Gallantmon obeyed his wife, as he did in most things. Once they'd landed a safe distance away from the village, Sakuyamon renewed the concealment spell she had placed on Grani, and then cast another spell on herself and her husband.

A moment later, Gallantmon and Sakuyamon were replaced by their Champion forms of Growlmon and Kyubimon. "You de-Digivolved us?" Growlmon marveled, examining his much larger, saurian form.

"Temporarily. It would certainly raise eyebrows if one of the more famous Knights and his bride were to walk into a Primary Village…" Kyubimon smiled, her nine tails flicking out. "But a young – – and very attractive – – couple hoping to adopt? Nobody will give us a second thought."

Growlmon smiled. "Clever as always, my lady."

She chuckled and gave him an appraising look. "Mmm, I'd forgotten how strapping you were like this. You wear that armor so often I rarely get to see your handsome face, except in private."

"Whereas you, my Queen, are as beautiful as ever, no matter what form you take," Growlmon told her devotedly.

Sakuyamon laughed and swished her tails at his snout, filling his nostrils with her heady scent, nearly causing him to swoon. "You're such a flatterer. Come, let's get going before we get so distracted admiring each other that we lose all inhibitions and forget why we came here."

"As you wish," Growlmon said dutifully. That they would lose their inhibitions later went unspoken.

The two of them approached, and soon entered the village. On the ground level, it looked much as it had from the air, lots of happy children laughing and playing about and having fun. Only from up close, it seemed almost as if some of the laughs were forced, and some of the playing was a bit frenzied, as if the children were desperately throwing themselves into the fun so as to avoid having to think about something unpleasant. The way some of their caretakers seem to be smiling a little too widely and telling them to enjoy themselves a little too loudly only emphasized this.

It didn't take long before one of the caretakers, an Elecmon, noticed the couple. "Ah, hello there!" He said with a smile that only seemed a tiny bit false, walking over and leaving one of his colleagues to take over in overseeing a game of hopscotch. "Welcome to our village, the land of new beginnings! Is there anything I can help you with?"

"Well, the Missus and I have been talking about it for a while, and we decided that we're ready to welcome a child into our lives," Growlmon said, telling the story they'd agreed upon on the way over.

The Elecmon's smile seemed more genuine this time. "Wonderful! It's always a delight to have new parents come visit us to choose their first child! Would you like an egg, or are you looking for a child that's already hatched?"

"We haven't decided yet," Kyubimon spoke up. "I don't suppose we could speak to your administrator? I'm sure she could fill us in on our choices."

Elecmon hesitated, but only for a moment. "I'm sorry, but Miss Swanmon is otherwise occupied at the moment. But I assure you, I'm more than up to the task of-"

"I hate to be a bother, but I really must insist that we speak to her," Kyubimon said, offering the Elecmon a smile more radiant than the sun, and causing the rest of the world to somehow pale in comparison to her beauty. The Elecmon was fixated, and several of the children and caretakers nearby stopped what they were doing to stare as well. "If you please?"

Growlmon smirked in amusement. When his wife laid on the glamour, it was almost impossible for anyone to resist her. He was completely immune, of course. He didn't need magic to love her with all his heart.

"I, uh, I think that might be possible," Elecmon said after a moment, blinking a few times with a bedazzled expression on his face. "If you'll… If you'll just follow me, please?"

"Thank you very much," Kyubimon said, dialing her power back a bit and allowing the people surrounding them to suddenly remember that there was more to the world than just her. Children resumed their play, but more than a few couldn't help shooting glances at the kitsune as she and her husband followed the dazed Elecmon into one of the buildings.

"A little overkill, my lady?" Growlmon asked, glancing at his wife. "I'm sure that your regular smile would've been more than enough to enslave him to your will. It certainly did to me."

Kyubimon had to stifle a laugh. "Oh, _stop_!" She gasped, flicking his nose with a tail.

"Never," he said adamantly.

Their guide let them through the building. Much like the exterior, the walls and floor were made of a bright and colorful substance that was very soft and easy to bounce off of, crayon drawings of varying levels of complexity and skill were framed on the walls amidst photos of large groups of smiling children, and there were toys scattered about everywhere. After walking them up a few flights of stairs-which would've been more arduous if the stairs hadn't been designed so that the average Digimon could simply bounce from one floor to another-they found themselves outside an office door with 'Ms. Swanmon' scribbled on the front in marker. The Elecmon knocked on the door. There was no response.

"I'm not sure she's in," Elecmon said apologetically.

"She's in," Kyubimon said confidently. "Try again."

The Elecmon obediently knocked on the door again. Again, there was no response. Elecmon glanced at his guests uncertainly, but Kyubimon just _looked_ at him, and he cleared his throat and said, "Miss Swanmon? I have some visitors here to see you."

"Please go away. I'm not seeing anyone right now," a tired, weary voice spoke up from the other side of the door.

"They're here to adopt. They insisted they speak with you," Elecmon said.

"There are plenty of other Digimon who can help them. I'm not… Now's not a good time," Swanmon said.

"Miss Swanmon?" Kyubimon spoke up, voice dripping with a mix of genuine charm and magically compelling tone that sent shivers down both Growlmon and Elecmon's spines. "I really _am_ sorry, but it's important that we speak to you right away. Can we please come in?"

There was a long silence. Finally, Swanmon sighed and said, "All right, come in."

Elecmon opened the door and ushered the couple into the office of the village administrator. The walls were covered in pictures, both photographic and hand drawn in nature, showing an attractive Swanmon with a variety of other Digimon, mainly children, but others showed her shaking hands with or being given checks or awards by a surprisingly large number of well-known celebrities and important political figures. Given the quality of the frames around the pictures of her with the children or the hand-drawn artwork, it was clear which she considered to be more important. A few bookshelves stood against the wall containing a mix of storybooks and texts on child psychology, a few of which looked to have been written by Swanmon herself. There were several toys filling a bin in one corner of the room, and a carpet woven to look like a smiley face covered the center of the room. Light filtered into the large windows on the back wall which provided an unobstructed view of most of the village, and the young Digimon playing below. Before the windows of was a large desk that looked to been made from a toy chest, covered with paperwork, though not nearly as much as Alphamon's had been. Seated behind that desk was the same Swanmon from the pictures, though the haggard, exhausted, worn-out bird Digimon was a far cry from the confident, smiling, motherly womon in the photos.

Sniffling, she grabbed a tissue and tried to wipe away the tearstains covering her face, blinking at them blearily as she tried to clear her bloodshot, sleep-deprived eyes. "I'm sorry for my unprofessional behavior," she said, her voice a bit hoarse. "I've been… I've been going through a few things, which I shouldn't have allowed to get in the way of work. Please forgive me. Anyway, you, um, were looking to adopt…?"

Kyubimon released her spell, and in a flash, she and Growlmon Warp-Digivolved back to their true selves. Swanmon goggled and nearly fell out of her chair in surprise, while the Elecmon was so out of it he didn't even seem to notice. "O-oh my! L-Lord Gallantmon and Lady S-Sakuyamon! Wh-what a pleasant and completely unexpected surprise! I-I'm actually a great admirer of your work, but I never thought that I'd get to meet you in person-"

"Leave us," Sakuyamon said to Elecmon. "And tell no one of what you've seen here."

"Yes, ma'am," he said happily, walking out of the room and closing the door behind him.

Not seeming to notice, Swanmon continued babbling. "I'm terribly sorry about my appearance, if I knew you'd be stopping by. I would've done something to freshen up a bit-"

"We aren't here for a social call," Gallantmon interrupted sharply. "Or to adopt. We're here to talk to you about a very serious concern."

Swanmon hesitated. "A concern? What do you mean?"

"Does the name Meicoomon mean anything to you?" Sakuyamon asked coldly.

Swanmon stared at them for a long while. Finally, her shoulders sagged, and her face drooped, looking decades older. "Oh. You're here about… Oh. _Oh_. So… So you're the ones they gave her to…"

"Actually, she was entrusted to the care of one of my colleagues, and we're here on his behalf," Gallantmon corrected her.

"We have questions. You have answers," Sakuyamon said with barely constrained fury. She raised her staff, the rings jangling on it. "You will tell us everything we want to know, and you will tell it truthfully. If you lie, I shall know, and I assure you, the consequences will be… Unpleasant."

"There's no need for that," Swanmon said quietly, looking defeated. "I'll tell you everything you want to know. I knew someone was going to come around eventually asking questions sooner or later, and I'd already resolved to tell them everything, damn the consequences. I never thought it would be you, though. Just… Whatever you do, leave the rest of the Village out of this, okay? I and I alone bear responsibility for what happened. And promise me you'll do everything within your power to make sure nobody but me gets hurt because of this. This is my fault and nobody else's. The rest of the village doesn't deserve to be punished for my mistake."

Gallantmon, Sakuyamon exchanged surprised glances. This is not what they were expecting. "You have our word, we'll keep everyone safe," Gallantmon said.

Swanmon sighed, looking greatly relieved, as if a massive burden had been lifted off her shoulders. "Thank you. If anyone else were to promise me that, I wouldn't be sure they could keep their word, but the two of you… Please, sit down. I'll tell you everything. The whole sordid story."

Surprised by how frank and direct the Digimon they had to come to interrogate was being, the couple complied. They tried to continue looking imposing, but their efforts were somewhat undermined by the fact that the only other seats in the room were bean bag chairs. Gallantmon's was surprisingly deep, and he had to struggle to keep from getting sucked into its depths.

Swanmon slid open a drawer behind her desk and pulled out a bottle and a few glasses. "It's only grape juice," she said, noticing their stares. "I wouldn't have anything actually alcoholic where kids might get it. Would, er, either of you like some?"

"No thank you," Sakuyamon abstained.

"I wouldn't mind some, actually," Gallantmon said.

Swanmon poured him a glass, then one for herself, and slid his glass across the desk towards him. "It's not poisoned, by the way."

Gallantmon, who'd picked up the glass, hesitated. "That was literally not something I'd considered until just now." After moment, he shrugged and took a sip.

Swanmon, on the other hand, chugged her glass down. "So. Meicoomon. You'll want to start at the beginning, I suppose."

"That would be nice," Sakuyamon said warily.

Swanmon leaned back in her chair and sighed. "I've been doing this job for a long time. A long, long time. Hatched hundreds of Digimon. Raised and loved every single one of them unconditionally. Did my best to make sure they would be as ready as they could be for whatever the world threw at them, and would become productive, successful, happy members of society. Tried as hard as I could to make sure that they would only go to parents who I was certain would be able to love and care for them the way they needed to. Every child I helped raise was unique and special and amazing in their own way, and I worked as hard as I could to make them realize how special they were. Some were easier than others. Some were a real challenge to reach. But I persevered, and was ultimately able to get through to most of them and help them reach their fullest potential. Up until now, I'd like to think I've done a pretty good job.

"And then Meicoomon entered my life. From the moment I laid eyes on her, I knew there was something different about her. Her egg had been lying around unhatched longer than any others, and when she finally DID Hatch, she Digivolved to Champion level in a matter of days. Right away, we could sense that there was something powerful within her. Something deep and dark and dangerous. But she didn't have an evil strand of code within her. She was sweet and gentle and timid, and while the rest of the kids had fun and laughed in the sunlight, for whatever reason she stuck to the shadows, and it took encouragement from myself and the other caretakers to get her to socialize with the other children. No matter how much fun she had with her friends, there was always this sort of…melancholy about her. Like she was burdened by a shapeless, nameless guilt which weighed heavily on her. I figured she was the reincarnation of some great evil or something. We get those from time to time, kids who did something horrific in their past life and feel driven to make up for it in their current one, even though they don't remember what they did."

Sakuyamon nodded in understanding. "Yes, I've encountered a number of such Digimon like that in my own experience as well."

"If she was the reincarnation of some former villain, it would certainly explain her power level, and possibly the oddity in her coding and even the virus," Gallantmon mused.

Swanmon winced. "Yes, her power level… She was a lot stronger than the other children, and didn't really know how her own strength. On more than one occasion, she accidentally hurt the other kids while playing. Even knocked down a building or two. It was never on purpose, and she always felt terrible about it. We always did our best to be patient with her and treat her with kindness, and do the best we could to help teach her how to control her abilities, so she didn't have to worry about hurting herself or others. It wouldn't be the first time we've dealt with someone like her, after all, and it certainly wouldn't be the last.

"And that's when we noticed something was happening to some of the other kids. They were getting more aggressive and cruel to each other, having actual fights rather than just play fights, and escalating cases of bullying was being reported. They also started exhibiting a disturbing desire to exterminate humanity, and when some of the other staff started showing similar symptoms, I had our doctors check everyone out. We quickly determined that a strange and unfamiliar virus had started infecting our population, and they didn't know how to treat it. I immediately initiated the quarantine protocol, sealing ourselves off from the outside world and sending word to the authorities for help. Standard procedure."

"I don't remember hearing about any quarantine around these parts…" Gallantmon murmured.

"They probably covered it up to avoid a panic," Sakuyamon suggested. "That, or to hide the truth of what was really going on."

"After about a week, two Digimon came to the village, claiming to be members of the Digital Center for Disease Control," Swammon continued.

"Who were they?" Sakuyamon asked sharply.

"Nobody you'll be able to pick out easily. A Deramon and a Floramon. Pretty average-looking and nondescript. And no, before you ask, I didn't think there was anything suspicious about them at the time. They seemed legit, and their credentials seemed to check out," Swanmon explained. "After they did some checking around, they told me that Meicoomon was the source of the virus, and since our facilities weren't equipped to handle the sorts of tests they'd need to do, they needed to take her back to their lab to see if they could find a way to come up with a cure."

"And you believed them?" Gallantmon asked, getting angry.

Swanmon winced. "At the time? Yes. Like I said, they didn't seem suspicious of the time. And… I was desperate. Things were getting worse, and I was worried it was only a matter of time before the infected Digimon seriously hurt each other, or even worse. I tried to convince them to let myself or one of the staff go with them so that Meicoomon would have a familiar face beside her the whole time, but they were adamant that she go alone. So… In the end, I was the one who had to convince Meicoomon that it would be okay to go with them, that they weren't going to do anything bad to her, and that once she got back, everything would be fine again, like it had been before. And while I knew at the time I was probably fibbing a little so she wouldn't be scared, I didn't realize until much later just how much of a lie I had told her."

She paused for a moment to refill her glass. After emptying it, she continued. "When she got back, I realized immediately I'd made a horrible mistake. She was… Traumatized. Scarred. Broken in body and spirit. The agents dropped their friendly façade and told me in no uncertain terms that I was to end the quarantine, allow outsiders to visit again to adopt children, and that we were to be as cruel and abusive to Meicoomon as Digimonly possible. And they told me that if I didn't do it, they would destroy the entire village, and make sure that our data would never be reborn."

The office was quiet for a moment. "What did you tell them?" Sakuyamon asked finally, the expression on her face unreadable.

Swanmon's face hardened. "I told them no, naturally. I swore an oath to treat all children with love and respect, and to never harm or allow a child to come to harm under my watch. And I certainly wasn't going to abuse one of my own! So I called their bluff and told them to get out of my office.

"The next morning I woke up and found out that an entire building and everyone in it had vanished overnight. There had been dozens of Digimon in there, most of them children. And now there was nothing left of it but a blank space where nothing can grow, which everyone subconsciously avoids. You can see the spot where it used to be out the window, we've got a pretty good view from up here."

Gallantmon took her up on that offer, getting up (with some effort) and looking out the window. Sure enough, he could see a large square patch of land between a few buildings which was conspicuously empty that all of the other Digimon seemed to be avoiding for some reason. When a ball rolled into the square, the kids who had been playing with it stared it for a moment before turning their backs on it, and going off to play a different game somewhere else. "Sweet programmers…" He whispered in horror.

"That afternoon, the agents returned. I told them I'd do what they asked," Swanmon said mournfully.

"You didn't try going to the authorities?" Sakuyamon asked, voice gentle.

"Calling the authorities was what got us into this mess in the first place," Swanmon said miserably. "I had no idea who to trust. For all I knew, they really WERE working with the DCDC. I was too afraid of what would happen if I called for help to dare defy them again. And so, for the sake of the village, and everyone in it, I betrayed my principles. I turned my back on everything I stood for. I allowed Digimon that I _knew_ were unwell to be adopted, so that they could spread their infection to the rest of the world. And Meicoomon… Poor, poor Meicoomon… The things we did to her…"

She started crying. "My only consolation is that just about everyone who hurt her was already infected by the virus, and so weren't fully in control of their actions. I'm the only one who retained complete control of my faculties, since they vaccinated me ahead of time. They'd offered to inoculate some of the other staff, but I refused, since I didn't want anyone else to have to bear the burden of the guilt for their actions. Which means that every time I hurt her, every time I was cruel and abusive and, and caused her suffering… That was all me." Her voice got choked. "I didn't even know I was _capable_ of such actions."

She laid her head down on the desk and sobbed for a few minutes. The couple let her. Finally, when she'd regained some of her composure, she continued her story. "I never saw those agents again, though I occasionally received new instructions through anonymous sources. For example, when your colleague Craniamon developed a vaccine and cure, I was ordered not to let it anywhere near the village, or… Well, you know the drill by now.

"And then, a few weeks ago, a DexDorugamon came into my office and told me that we would be receiving the medicine we needed soon, and that the false agents who'd been exploiting me had been taking care of. He promised it was all over, but asked that I not tell anyone about what happened because it would cause a panic, and also said that he would need to take Meicoomon into protective custody because the people who'd been using her to spread the virus were still out there and might try to come for her again. I didn't believe him for a second. I've heard all the rumors about him and his kind, and knew he couldn't be trusted. However, at that point, there wasn't really anything I could do to stop him – – it's impossible to refuse an envoy of Yggdrasil – – and by then I was just so broken and tired of it all that I let him take her, because I hoped… I dearly, desperately _hoped_ … That maybe now Meicoomon would finally be able to find some measure of happiness, far away from here. Away from me. The fact that you're here tells me that that hope has been fulfilled, so at least _some_ good has come from all this."

"Well… She could certainly be with someone worse," Gallantmon said hesitantly, processing all this.

"The Digimon she's with now… He is not, perhaps, the best parental figure she could have… But he is, I think, the one she needs. And, in the same way, he needs her," Sakuyamon said after some thought.

"That's… That's good. I'm glad to hear that," Swanmon said, managing a faint smile. "So… So what happens now? Are you going to arrest me? Kill me? I will happily accept whatever fate you have in store for me. I know I deserve it, and more. Just… Please, please don't bring anyone else into this. This is my fault. All of it. I'm the only person who should be punished for my sins."

Gallantmon and Sakuyamon exchanged glances. Finally, the knight spoke up. "I'm going to be honest. When we came out here, we were expecting something a lot different. A cruel and abusive matron running an orphanage of fear, like you hear about in stories or on the news sometimes. Someone who was nothing short of a monster."

"But I am!" Swanmon insisted. "I am a-"

"You're no more a monster then Meicoomon is," Sakuyamon interjected. "What you are is a decent, compassionate womon who, through no fault of her own, was forced to do something terrible to protect the lives of those she was charged with caring for. You did the only thing you could in the situation you were faced with. While I cannot absolve your actions, neither can I condemn them."

"But… What I've done… I can't just go unpunished," Swanmon pleaded.

"Maybe not, but we aren't going to be the ones to carry that out," Gallantmon said firmly.

"If you want to start making up for what you've done, help us find whoever forced you into this so we can make them face justice," Sakuyamon urged. "We can check with the DCDC to see if those two agents really were working for them, but if they weren't… Is there anything you can tell us that might help us track down the people responsible? Any clue, no matter how small, may be of use."

"Assuming that DexDorugamon was lying about them being taken care of. Which he probably was," Gallantmon said in disgust.

Swanmon shook her head. "No, I don't have anything. Not concrete. But… I do have a suspicion. One which I never dared voice or even allowed myself to fully think through. One that even now I'm hesitant to speak out loud, for fear of what it will bring down on the village."

"What is it?" Gallantmon asked.

Swanmon stood up and turned to look out the window. The couple pulled themselves out of their chairs to stand beside her, seeing that she was looking at a sapling some of the children were playing Ring around the Rosie around. "I grew up in this village, you know. Lived here my entire life. I was raised by the previous matron, and she trained me to take her place once she was no longer able to. Back when I was just a Puttimon, there was one tree I loved more than any other in the village. It was bigger and older than all the others, grew the best toys and candy, and provided plenty of shade when the sun got too bright and you wanted to take a nap but you didn't really feel like going inside. Kids had been climbing up there and building tree houses in it for decades, carving their initials to prove that they had been there, their names and exploits passed down by word-of-mouth for generations. When I took my current position, that tree was still there, and I had no reason to believe that it wouldn't remain there long after I was gone, continuing to provide respite and joy for future generations of children.

"And then one day, out of the blue, it fell down and killed over a dozen kids. It turned out that the tree had actually been rotting away on the inside for decades and become more or less hollow, and nobody had noticed until was too late. It was the biggest tragedy during my tenure up until now. I had a sapling planted where the old tree used to be, but it wasn't the same." She turned to regard the couple. "Do you understand what I'm telling you?"

Slowly, they nodded. "I wish I didn't, but… I do. I really do," Gallantmon said grimly.

"If your suspicion is correct… The implications…!" Sakuyamon hissed, gritting her teeth.

"If it's who you're suggesting, it's going to be difficult for us to do anything about it. Not… Impossible, but difficult," Gallantmon said apologetically. "I promise you, though; we aren't going to let them get away with it. No matter how long it takes."

"Thank you," Swanmon said, and she seemed to shrink down into herself, looking more tired than ever. "I'm glad I could be of assistance. Could… Could you leave me, now? I would like to be alone for a while."

"Of course," Gallantmon said courteously. "Thank you for your help."

"Is there anything you would like us to pass along to Meicoomon when next we see her?" Sakuyamon asked.

Swanmon hesitated. "Tell her… Tell her that…" She shook her head. "No. No, there's nothing I can say to her that can possibly make up for what I did. Tell her whatever you like. It doesn't matter."

"… Very well," Sakuyamon said at last. "I hope that the next time we meet, it will be under better circumstances."

Swanmon nodded wordlessly, and the couple left the room, shutting the door behind them. Once she was sure they were gone, Swanmon poured what was left of her bottle into her glass, drank it, and slammed it down on her desk hard enough to crack it. "While I appreciate the thought...I don't think we'll ever see each other again."

She opened another drawer and pulled out an object that had no place in an institution dedicated to children. Something long and hard and cold and deadly. She stared at it for a long while, contemplative.

And then she raised it to her head and…

…

Growlmon (having been de-Digivolved again, so as not to arouse suspicion) hesitated as they stepped out of the building and back into the sunshine, which seemed out of place considering the dark tale they had just heard. "Did you hear a bang?"

"I think it might've been that balloon," said Kyubimon, nodding at a crying Nyaramon nearby as an Opossummon quickly started making a new balloon animal to replace the one that had just burst.

"Oh. All right," Growlmon said, putting the loud noise out of his head. "What Swanmon said… Do you think she's right?"

Kyubimon shook her head. "I wish I didn't, but… What she said makes too much sense. Still… To think he would go that far…!"

"Yeah. I never thought he'd sink to this level," Growlmon agreed. The two of them stood there a moment, staring at the children laughing and having fun, feeling unusually helpless. "… What do we do?"

"You should tell Alphamon," Kyubimon told her husband. "We promised to keep him informed of everything we discovered. We can come up with a plan of action later."

Growlmon nodded. "Right. And I suppose you're going to transport everyone here back home?"

Kyubimon nodded. "It's not safe for them here, especially now that Swanmon has told us everything. I detected and eliminated a number of listening devices when we entered her office, and did my best to prevent anyone from scrying… But that probably just alerted anyone watching that their secrets might've been outed. It's only a matter of time before they come here to clean up loose ends, and while I relish the opportunity to confront them face-to-face, it's too dangerous to do it in such a setting. The village will be much safer in our dominion."

He grimaced. "Yeah, but explaining the reason for the sudden transition isn't going to be easy…"

"I'll take care of it," the kitsune assured him. "Go, make your report. I will begin the spell."

Growlmon was reluctant to leave – – he always loved watching his wife perform magic of this magnitude – – but he had his duty, and he always took duty seriously. _Alphamon is_ not _going to like this_ , he thought grimly as he headed back to Grani. _I_ really _hope we're wrong about this… And wish I weren't so sure that we weren't…_

…

Alphamon and Meicoomon stared in wordless horror at the nightmarish events happening on the screen. "Isn't… Isn't this a kid's show?" Alphamon asked finally.

"I think so," the feline said morbidly.

"When did children's television get so _scary_?!" The knight asked incredulously.

Suddenly, there was a loud noise that caused both of them to jump in alarm. Thankfully, it just turned out to be the phone. Embarrassed, Alphamon paused the stream and picked up the phone. "Yes? Alphamon speaking… Oh, Craniamon! I wasn't expecting to hear back from you so soon. Have you found out anything new?"

 _"Yes, but I'm not entirely sure what to make of it,"_ the scientist replied. _"After examining her code a few times, I realized something about it seemed oddly familiar. I compared it with everything we had in the system, and I discovered something intriguing. If you take out all the twos, it's virtually identical to that of an Apocalymon."_

Alphamon's eyes widened in alarm. "Then… You're saying that Meicoomon…"

 _"May be the reincarnation of one of the most dangerous, powerful, and, well,_ abnormal _Digimon out there,"_ Craniamon confirmed.

"… I see. That… Actually makes a lot of sense, actually. Might explain a few things about her…" Alphamon murmured. "Continue your research. See what else you can find."

 _"You don't need to tell me twice, sir. I haven't been this excited to do science in a long time!"_ Craniamon said excitedly.

"What did Craniamon have to say?" Meicoomon said as Alphamon hung up, looking worried.

"Found out something about your code which might explain a thing or two about why you're different from other Digimon," Alphamon said, deciding that telling her she was the reincarnation of an insane world-ender at this juncture probably wouldn't help her self-image. "It's nothing to-"

He was interrupted when the phone rang again. "Hold that thought." He picked up the phone. "Yes, did you forget something, Crani- oh, Gallantmon! I was wondering when I'd hear from you. Did you and Sakuyamon get to the village okay? What have you found out?"

Meicoomon looked at her caretaker in curiosity as he stood there for the next several minutes, silently listening to his subordinate's report. Her long ears twitched, but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't quite make out what Gallantmon was saying. Whatever it was, Alphamon didn't seem to be enjoying it, considering how he was gripping the phone so hard he was starting to leave grooves in it. After a long while, Alphamon finally said, "I see. Thank you for bringing this to my attention. I… I'll look into it. Get back to base as soon as you're finished, we're going to need to discuss the greater ramifications of this in person."

He hung up the phone and just… Stood there for a long while, staring off into the distance. Getting more and more anxious by the second, Meicoomon finally asked, "Alphamon? I-is everything all right?"

The Knight stirred. "All right? I… No, I'm afraid not. I think… I think I'm going to need to pay a visit to someone. Someone that I would rather not see."

"Who?" Meicoomon asked in concern.

Alphamon sighed and lowered his head, clenching his fist at his side. "… My father."

…


	6. A chat with Nidhoggr

Disclaimer: I don't own anything that doesn't belong to me.

...

The black sports car resembling an Alfa Romeo Montréal smoothly came to a stop, sunlight glinting off of its Golden borders and mirrors, the Golden Sun designs on its wheels, and the Golden circuit design on the hood connected to a Golden sword design. Meicoomon, seated in the car's passenger seat (and looking rather comical, having to sit in an oversized baby seat of sorts because otherwise there's no way she could even see above the dashboard) stared through the windshield in awe at the gargantuan tree rising up in the near distance, so massive it dwarfed the mountains surrounding it, it's roots so huge that they formed large hills on either side of them, the shade from its canopy very nearly swallowing them up along with all the land beneath it. "Wow…"

"Don't be fooled, Meicoomon. It may look amazing, but that thing is as rotten as Dynasmon's singing voice, if not more so," Alphamon said grimly, clenching the steering wheel so hard he was starting to put grooves in it. He glanced at the child sitting next to him. "I still don't know how you talked me into letting you come-"

"I begged and pleaded with you not to leave me alone," Meicoomon recalled. "There may have been tears involved."

"Yes, that sounds about right. And against my better judgment, I gave in," Alphamon said. "However, you go no further. Don't give me any sad eyes or start crying, I'm serious this time. This tree is no place for kids or any Digimon smart enough to recognize the danger this place holds, which kind of says a lot about me, really. The entity I need to talk to I have to see alone, and I'm going to need all my wits about me, which means I can't allow myself to be distracted by worrying about your safety, too. So you are to stay right here, and don't leave this car for any reason."

"What if I need to use the bathroom?" She asked timidly.

"There should be a bag or two in the glove compartment. Yes, I'm aware how disgusting that sounds, but I'm sure that Micah can sterilize it with her magic fire or whatever afterwards," Alphamon said. Micah sniffed, mildly offended that she was being relegated to cleanup duty, but nodded in understanding. "I'll leave the car on, so the AC will stay running, and you can watch television while you're waiting for me. I don't care what you watch, so long as it isn't more of Steven Universe, because I don't want to miss any episodes. Okay?"

Meicoomon nodded reluctantly. "O-okay. Um, h-how long will you be gone?"

"… I'm not sure," Alphamon said. "Hopefully not too long. But just in case…" He pointed to his car phone. "If I'm not back in half an hour, call one of the Digimon at the top of my contact list _immediately_ and tell them where you are and what's going on. If any strange Digimon start getting close to the vehicle, I want you to do the same thing. I'll leave the car's defense systems on, which should keep away just about anything that isn't me, but I don't want you trapped in here defenseless while Ophanimon-knows-what is prowling around outside, trying to get in. And if something should manage to breach the defenses and get in here, and help hasn't arrived yet… Then I want you to make a break for it, get as far away from here as you can. Micah should be able to lead you to safety, right, Micah?"

The spirit nodded, growling with determination. She would not allow anything to harm her mistress.

Meicoomon swallowed. "D-do you really think it will come to that?"

"Considering that I'm about to waltz into the den of the Digimon responsible for what happened to you? I'd honestly be surprised if something didn't go wrong," Alphamon said seriously. "Which is another reason why I really wish you had just listened to me and stayed back at headquarters."

Meicoomon started trembling. "I'm beginning to think I should've listened."

"Yes, you should have," Alphamon agreed. He stared at the tree, steeling himself. "Okay, here I go. Oh, and before I forget, there are some snacks in the glove compartment in case you get hungry. Try not to get too many crumbs on the seat, though. I don't have many possessions in my life that I really care about, but this car is one of them. Even so, it's not as important as keeping you safe."

Meicoomon smiled at him, tears watering up in her eyes. "I…th-thank you. And… And I want you to be safe as well… Good luck."

"Good luck… I'm certainly going to need it," Alphamon muttered, stepping out of the car and locking it behind him before he could change his mind. Refusing to look back lest he lose his nerve upon seeing the feline's anxious face, Alphamon walked forwards, towards the trunk of the tree.

The further he got from his car and Meicoomon, the higher the root hills grew around him, and the more he was enveloped by the shadow of the tree's canopy. A sense of overwhelming menace filled the air, as if an intelligence greater than his comprehension was staring into his very DigiCore, analyzing every strand of his code, and finding him wanting.

He also grew aware that he wasn't alone. Dark figures with red eyes and leathery wings were lurking in the shadows, hopping from root to root to keep pace with him, growling and leering at him with unmistakable malice. Despite being massively outnumbered by the vicious DexDorugamon, Alphamon wasn't afraid. Even though he was out of practice and far from his prime, he could still take them all on any day of the week. He found a part of himself wishing that they did try something, so he could have an excuse to let loose and release some of the tension building up in him. Not to mention the world would be a better place if there were a few less of the buggers blighting it.

Eventually, he found himself before the trunk of the tree, a massive gate set into a joint between two of the roots blocking his path, a pair of DexDorugreymon guarding it. The serpentine red Digimon stirred as he approached, glaring at him through their metal masks, their many tails writhing and undulating as they stood at attention, spreading their wings to keep him from going any further. "You have not been summoned here, Alphamon," the one on the left growled.

"What business brings you to this most sacred of places uninvited?" The one on the right demanded.

"I need to have a word with my father about a stray kitten which recently found itself in my position," Alphamon said coldly. "Get out of my way, unless you want an up close and personal demonstration of what I did to your little brother this morning."

"DexDorugamon was but a Champion, and you caught him by surprise," one of the DexDorugreymon said dismissively. "We, on the other hand, are Ultimates, and not so easily-"

He was interrupted by Alphamon's fist smashing into his face, snapping his head back on its long neck, slivers of metal and bone scattered across the ground. For moment, everything was silent, as the slavering DexDorugamon and the other guard stared in disbelief.

"You… You _dare_ -" the other DexDorugreymon started to sputter, only to be interrupted by Alphamon punching him in the face as well.

"I've neither the time nor patience for this shit," Alphamon growled. "I'm here to see my father. Let me in. _Now_."

"I'm sorry, but that's not going to be happening today."

An immense dark figure detached from the trunk above them, plummeting towards the gathered Digimon. The DexDorugamon quickly scurried away, and Alphamon took a few steps back as the figure slammed into the ground before him, slowly rising from its crouched landing to tower over him, a colossal bipedal Dragon covered in purple and black armor with yellow lightning bolts painted on, with serrated talons on hands and feet, over a dozen wings alternating between red feathers and black membranes growing from its immense shoulders and back, an enormous transparent sphere at the end of its twitching tail containing a crackling energy ball emanating purple mist, and horns like lightning bolts branching and zigzagging back from a face that was nothing short of purest evil. The undead Dragon smiled at Alphamon, making its horrendous visage even more nightmarish. "Alphamon. It's been too long.… _Brother_."

"Not long enough," Alphamon growled, clenching his fists. "Let me by, DexDorugoramon. I'm here to talk to dad."

"Oh, I _am_ sorry, brother, dear, but our father is currently occupied with pressing business, the kind that you couldn't possibly begin to comprehend," DexDorugoramon said condescendingly.

"You mean he's watching soaps from the human world. Again," Alphamon said bluntly. "Funny, for an entity so consumed with hatred for humanity, he sure seems to enjoy their entertainment a lot."

There were numerous gasps and snarls of rage from the numerous Ghost Digimon surrounding them. "Blasphemer! Heretic!" A familiar voice spat. Alphamon groaned, rolling his eyes as a familiar DexDorugamon, bandages covering the stems where his wings used to be and a number of patches hastily welded onto his broken mask, staggered into view. "Smite this treasonous cur, DexDorugoramon, for daring to pollute the air with these foul allegations against our beloved-"

"Oh, do shut up, the grown-ups are talking," DexDorugoramon snarled, swatting DexDorugamon away with a flick of his tail.

"Not a fan of them either, I take it?" Alphamon asked.

"They're idiots, but they're family. You understand," the horrific beast said with a shrug.

Alphamon narrowed his eyes at his brother, not for the first time wondering how in ENIAC's name they could possibly be related. "No, I'm not sure I do. I don't care if dad is watching his soaps, I need to speak with him."

DexDorugoramon chuckled. "How adorable. You seem to have forgotten your place in our hierarchy, brother, dear. Even the lowliest of DexDorugamon," he said, shooting a glance at the injured Dragon, who was struggling to pull himself to his feet. "Is still far more important in the grand scheme of things then you. You do not simply barge in here, uninvited and unannounced, and make _demands_. Do you need a reminder of just where you stand?"

"… No, I don't," Alphamon growled. "But that doesn't change the fact that I have questions for him. Questions only he can answer. And like it or not, one way or another, I'm getting them."

"Questions about Meicoomon, I presume," DexDorugoramon said in amusement.

Alphamon glared at the fiend. "As a matter of fact, yes."

"Well, why don't you present them to me, rather than interrupt dear father, and incur his wrath? Perhaps I may be able to shed some enlightenment on your queries," DexDorugoramon said magnanimously. "And tell you just how wrong you may be."

Alphamon considered this. There wasn't much Yggdrasil did that DexDorugoramon didn't know about. Part of the territory with being the favorite son. And no, he wasn't jealous in the slightest. "Let me paint you a picture. Some time ago, a unique Digimon hatches in a certain Primary Village, one unlike anything ever seen before in the Digital World. She possesses great power, which alone is enough to catch the interest of certain parties, but also has the strange ability to infect those around her with a new virus, one which has never been encountered before. Word reaches Yggdrasil, and he sends some of his agents to take her and examine her weren't to see if her abilities can be used for his own agenda.

"And what do you know, they can be! Not only is that virus of hers capable of boosting a Digimon's strength and aggression, but also makes them go wet at the thought of murdering humans, which is something Pops is always eager to do. And if that weren't the cherry on top, she's also the reincarnation of an Apocalymon, meaning she has almost unlimited destructive potential, enough even to destroy entire worlds… Such as one filled with pesky humans whom dad has wanted to wipe out for the longest time.

"So, he hatches up an awful idea. He sends Meicoomon back to the village, and turns it into a facility to try and spread the virus across the world using little kids as disease vectors. In the meantime, Meicoomon is tortured and abused on the logic that, since Apocalymon's powers were driven from sorrow and despair and all that good stuff, if you could fill her with enough negative emotions she'd eventually snap and Digivolve into some glorious destroyer of worlds. Because that sort of thing _never_ backfires on the people who think it's a brilliant idea to torment a kid with world-ending powers and that she'll use those powers against their enemies and not, say, on her torturers. And then, once you've got your pet goddess of destruction, and a big enough Army of infected Digimon, you'd fling them at the human world so that they destroy it utterly, and strengthen the dimensional barrier to make sure none of them make it back, because it would rather be rather inconvenient if any of them found their way home and start causing trouble here, now wouldn't it?

"And so, in one fell swoop, daddy dearest would not only annihilate humanity, which has been a thorn in his side since forever, but also get rid of a significant chunk of the population in case he ever feels the need to make a new Digital World again and doesn't want to go through the whole X-Program debacle." Alphamon regarded his brother. "So tell me, DexDorugoramon. Any of that sound about right?"

For a long while, all was silent. The DexDorugamon stared at Alphamon in disbelief at his audacity, while DexDorugoramon stared at his brother with an unreadable look in his eyes. Finally, the maimed DexDorugamon snapped, foam flocking from his mouth as he raved, "Liar! Cretin! Heretic! You _dare_ come before us and spout such poisonous blasphemies in Yggdrasil's own _shadow_?! Strike him down, my brothers! Show this godless cur the fate of all who question the authority of our glorious-"

DexDorugoramon's tail suddenly split open and shot towards DexDorugamon, the sphere slamming shut on the startled Ghost. He screamed in agony as the energy ball flared up, arcs of electricity shooting out and grabbing the Dragon, dragging him into the crackling orb and consuming him utterly, his screams rising in pitch before finally cutting off with a repellent sizzle as the energy ball flashed bright enough to temporarily chase away the shadows.

As the light dimmed, DexDorugoramon smacked his lips. "Awwww, that hit the spot. I was getting tired of his voice, anyway." Ignoring the horrified looks from his kin, he turned his gaze back on Alphamon and began clapping slowly. "Well done, brother. I have to admit, I'm impressed. I underestimated you. You figured out far more than I expected." He tilted his head quizzically. "But… If you've already deciphered so much of our plans regarding Meicoomon, that begs the question… Why are you here?"

"Because," Alphamon said, trying to act as if the brutal consumption of another Digimon right before his eyes hadn't shaken him. "There's still at least one thing left I don't understand. Why did you give Meicoomon to me? Why not give her to some other Digimon, who was far more likely to abuse her and shaper her into the destroyer of worlds you want her to be? You're not an idiot like the guy you just killed, and neither is dad. Surely you had to have known I wasn't going to abuse her like that."

DexDorugoramon chuckled. "Again, you seem to have forgotten you don't actually have any agency where we are concerned. You would have done it if we'd ordered you too strictly enough. It wouldn't be the first time you've committed an atrocity just because we said so, after all. How many X Digimon have died by your hand again? Well, perhaps not so many since you started delegating the tasks to others, but still, their data is on your hands by dint of responsibility." Alphamon clenched his fist but said nothing. "In any event, the reason we gave her to you instead of some psychotic thug or keeping her around as a plaything is simple. The plan's a wash."

Alphamon blinked. He hadn't been expecting that. "What you mean, it's a wash?"

DexDorugoramon shrugged. "Exactly what I said. A wash. A bust. A total failure."

"Failure?" Alphamon asked, confused. "But Meicoomon's virus, it's spreading all over-"

"Yes, but not nearly as quickly or as widely as we had hoped," DexDorugoramon interrupted. "Your subordinate Craniamon independently coming up with a cure and a vaccine for the virus threw a big wrench in our plans. Despite our best efforts to sabotage and discredit distribution of the cure, far more of it got to hospitals and sick Digimon than we would have liked, severely curtailing the spread of the disease. While there are many infected Digimon still out there, there aren't anywhere near enough for the world-destroying army we had in mind, and our latest projections estimate those numbers will dwindle even further in the next few months."

 _Looks like I'm going to need to give Craniamon a raise_ , Alphamon thought to himself. _And maybe even approve that expansion to his lab he's been nagging me about._

"And as for Meicoomon herself.… Regrettably, she doesn't seem to have the _temperament_ to become a goddess of destruction," DexDorugoramon said in disgust. "We seem to have done too good a job of breaking her spirit. No matter what was done to her, no matter what bullying and abuse and torture and humiliation she suffered, _nothing_ seems to be enough to drive her over the edge. She just keeps internalizing all of her hurt out of the pathetic belief that whatever happens to her, she _deserves_ it, and seems to have given up the drive to fight back long ago. Hell, I even had a few… _Sessions_ with her, and the fact that she's still retained her sanity after that is nothing short of miraculous!"

Alphamon was very still for a very long time. "She never mentioned you," he said slowly.

"I doubt she'd remember. I'm fairly certain the trauma I inflicted on her was so horrendous she's completely wiped it from her own memory, though she'll probably have nightmares about it for the rest of her life," DexDorugoramon said with a casual shrug, either unaware- or, more likely, _uncaring_ \- of how Alphamon was trembling with rage. "Unfortunately, I had to stop, because if I went any further I'd kill her or leave her an empty shell, neither of which are ideal for a goddess of destruction. Anyway, Yggdrasil eventually decided to cancel the project. With no army of infected Digimon, or destroyer of worlds to lead them, it would be a waste of time and resources to try and push it any further. All extraneous Digimon who were involved in the project were terminated, and the only reason we didn't destroy that Primary Village before now was because we got tied up in bureaucracy. That, and because an entire Primary Village being wiped out overnight would draw unwanted attention."

"They're beyond your reach now," Alphamon said coldly. "Gallantmon and Sakuyamon have taken them somewhere you can never get to them."

"You underestimate our reach and overestimate that witch's ability to resist us," DexDorugoramon sneered. "Though I will grant you, going to war with her right now would be… Costly in the long run. In any event, we considered terminating Meicoomon as well, but Yggdrasil decided we might still be able to find a use for her somewhere down the line, so decided to have her dropped in your care so she would be kept safe and out of the way of prying eyes. We decided you would be the ideal candidate, because not only do you work for us, but you've lost faith in all things and have stopped caring about anyone, including yourself, so would treat Meicoomon with as little care or love as possible, since you had none left, while at the same time being unlikely to harm her physically because you just don't give a damn. Wouldn't want her to have any memories of happiness in her life if we're going to try to turn her into a goddess of destruction again sometime down the road, after all!"

"Except that's not what happened," Alphamon said through clenched teeth.

"No, it seems we miscalculated on that front," DexDorugoramon admitted. "I certainly didn't expect you to actually give a damn about her. I suppose part of the blame can be laid at the feet of that imbecile DexDorugamon for inciting you - he always _was_ a bit overzealous and overenthusiastic when it comes to the idea of physical and/or emotional torture – – but it seems as if you genuinely care for her. I suppose your heart isn't as hardened as we had all thought."

"It surprised me too, honestly," Alphamon said.

"Which leads me to wonder a few things… What exactly did you hope to accomplish by coming here, brother?" DexDorugoramon asked the knight.

"I wanted answers," Alphamon growled.

"And you got them. Proof once more that we are the cruelest and most diabolical creatures you have ever encountered," DexDorugoramon said dismissively. "Surely didn't expect anything different. So you got your answers. What then? What exactly were you planning to do after you got them? Give it to the press? You know as well as I do that we can crush any story easily if we cared enough to, and there's no way you could have gotten a recorded confession of me telling you everything because Yggdrasil's jamming field disrupted any listening devices you might have on you the minute you entered his shadow. And even if you had such a confession, no news agency would publish it for fear of reprisal. Oh, I suppose you could disseminate it on the web, but we can easily state that it's just yet another groundless conspiracy theory, like all the others accusing us of all manner of atrocities."

"Most of those conspiracy theories are _true_ ," Alphamon snarled.

"Of course they are. You should know, you participated in some of them," DexDorugoramon said cheerfully. "Doesn't mean enough people will believe them to do anything about it. And even those who do believe may be hesitant to do anything out of fear of what we might do if they draw our ire. After all, father destroyed the Digital World once before. He could easily do it again." He shuddered in ecstasy. "I do hope he does, and that he allows us to participate. The thought of all those _delectable_ DigiCores out there, just waiting to be devoured… It makes me want to sing."

"Please don't," Alphamon groaned.

"Very well. But that doesn't answer my question. What did you think you would accomplish by coming here?" DexDorugoramon pressed.

"Maybe I just wanted the satisfaction of hearing you admit it," Alphamon snarled.

"Mmm, perhaps, perhaps. A case could certainly be made for that…" DexDorugoramon agreed with a nod. "Maybe you want all the dirty details to tell the rest of the Knights, to incite them in revolt against us… But no, you'd never do that. You're too much of a coward."

"Even cowards have a breaking point. How do you know this isn't mine?" Alphamon asked sharply.

DexDorugoramon chuckled. "Please, brother. If you had such a breaking point, you would have reached it a long, long time ago. No, there's something else here, something deeper… Something else I was wondering about. What is it, exactly, about Meicoomon that has drawn you out of your depression? What makes her different from every other poor, pathetic wretch in this world that you never lifted a finger to help? It can't be that you got a chance to see her with your own eyes and get to know her on your own terms, you've witnessed—and even _ordered-_ the executions of many you called comrade solely because they had the X-antibody. And she doesn't have some inbuilt charm ability that instantly makes everyone who comes in contact with her care about her and want to protect her from harm, we checked for something like that… Which only leaves…" He froze for a moment. "No… Could it be… Surely not even you would be so foolish…!" Without warning, he burst into laughter.

"What? What's so funny?!" Alphamon demanded.

"Ahahahah…oh…ohohoho… Oh dear brother, you don't even realize it, do you?" DexDorugoramon cackled, wiping away a tear. "Truly, you're even more pathetic than I ever dreamed."

"What the hell are you talking about?!" Alphamon bellowed.

"I think it's time that _I_ told a story of my own, brother," DexDorugoramon said with a sinister smile. "Once upon a time, there was a lonely Digimon. It was the only one of its kind, unique in every way from all others. Because of this, it was shunned, mistreated, and abused by everyone around it. It fell into despair, believing itself to be a monster that no one would ever love or care for.

"And then, one day, this Digimon encountered a Knight in shining armor. A warrior brave and true – – or so it seemed to their eyes – – who didn't treat them like everyone else. Who treated them as if they were a person, who showed them love and affection in their own way. Someone who took them in and made them believe that they could be more than a monster. Someone who showed them _compassion_ , for the first time in what felt like forever.

"Now… Am I talking about Meicoomon… Or _you_ , brother?"

Alphamon stiffened. DexDorugoramon laughed again, seeing this reaction. "That's it, isn't it? The child reminds you of yourself, back when you were but a Dorumon and Imperialdramon Paladin Mode took you in and raised you to be one of the members- and eventual, the leader – – of the first incarnation of the Royal Knights. You see yourself in her, and with it, perhaps, a chance to redeem yourself for all of your mistakes and failures. The opportunity to take her under your wing, and teach her to be better than you ever were, to be like the mentor and father figure Imperialdramon Paladin mode was for you. To be loved unconditionally, in a way nobody else ever has before." He grinned. "How… Pathetic."

"It's not-" Alphamon started.

"Surely you realize that such a dream is impossible, don't you, brother?" DexDorugoramon interrupted him. "Imperialdramon Paladin mode was a hero. He was pure of heart and spirit, in a way that you haven't been for a very long time, assuming you ever were to begin with. You think that by raising this child, by doing this one good deed, you can somehow make up for the many, many, _many_ wrongs you've committed over the years? All the deaths, all the compromises, all the times you betrayed your code, your comrades, yourself, and your precious mentor's memory? That by helping her, it will suddenly balance out all the people you didn't help, whom you ignored, whom you _knew_ were suffering because of me or others like me and did still did _nothing?_ Do you honestly think that, if she knew even half of things you've done, she could ever forgive you?" He tilted his head. "Were you ever going to tell her?"

"I…" Alphamon swallowed. "I hadn't… I hadn't thought that far ahead. I've been… I've been kind of making this up as I go along."

DexDorugoramon snorted. "Clearly, otherwise you wouldn't have come here with no plan other than to get angry, beat up some of my relatives, and yell for answers you surely knew you couldn't do anything with. Well, unless, perhaps, that was _your_ plan. That you would come here, be confronted with your own futility, and go back to Meicoomon and the rest of the Knights, telling them there's nothing you could do, but one day, you'd get us for this, winning back some of the respect from your peers and the affections of your surrogate daughter because hey, at least you _tried_ , right?"

"…"

DexDorugoramon chuckled. "As much of a coward as ever, brother. Still, at least you don't claim that everything you've done was for the greater good, or some such nonsense as that. At least you aren't _that_ big of a hypocrite."

"I stopped being able to lie to myself about that a long time ago," Alphamon said miserably.

DexDorugoramon nodded. "Well, at least you've got that going for you. The hypocrisy of your order has always amused me, brother. Your stated goal is to enforce justice in the digital world, but in practice that usually involves mindlessly obeying any higher power that comes your way while turning a blind eye to the immense injustices you yourselves were causing, or using 'justice' as an excuse to do whatever the hell you wanted because you were too powerful to be stopped. Not even the noble Gallantmon can be excused from this. After all, he hasn't really done that much to curb the massive injustices your little group has perpetrated since joining, even if he's somehow managed to keep his hands clean of all that. And isn't his brother a mass-murdering destroyer of worlds, and his sister-in-law a horrifically evil magical despot? And yet you don't see him doing anything about _them_ , now do you? Oh, how his predecessors would be disappointed in him. All of you, really. And you most of all. Assuming he hasn't reincarnated at some point, I bet your mentor wishes he had never chosen you as his successor."

"There are times," Alphamon said wearily. "I wish he hadn't either."

DexDorugoramon regarded Alphamon. "There is no forgiveness," he said after a moment. "For the things you've done. I thought you knew this by now. And yet you allowed yourself, for a moment, to believe otherwise. How disappointing. I expected more from you. I expected you knew by now to avoid the folly of hope. Allowing that kitten into your life may be the cruelest thing we've ever done to you, and I can't even take credit for it. A shame." He grinned and spread his arms wide. "Allow me to take pity on you. Just so that you can say you didn't leave empty-handed, I shall allow you one attack. You can hit me as hard as you wish. Then you can go back and tell that little girl waiting for you in your car that you at least got to strike one of the monsters who tormented her so, and be a hero in her eyes for a little longer. Come on. One free blow. I won't even defend myself."

Trembling, Alphamon didn't budge.

Chuckling, DexDorugoramon lowered his arms. "Yes, that's what I thought-"

 ** _"BLADE OF THE DRAGON KING!"_**

DexDorugoramon choked midsentence. Around them, the DexDorugamon and DexDorugreymon gasped in disbelief. The monstrous dragon, stunned, slowly looked down to see the first few inches of Alphamon's Ouryuken blade buried in his chest. He blinked, and then raised his head to stare at his brother in disbelief. "You… You stabbed me."

"You… You told me to will," Alphamon stammered, sounding as incredulous as DexDorugoramon.

"I didn't think you'd actually _do_ it!" The Dragon shrieked.

 _"Neither did I!"_

DexDorugoramon blinked a few more times, and abruptly burst into laughter, spitting blood into Alphamon's face. "Then it seems that, once again, I underestimated you, brother. I'm disappointed in myself. I thought I knew you better. I am…Impressed. I didn't think you had it in you." His eyes narrowed. "Such a pity that your blade did not cut deeply enough. _Metal Impulse_!"

With a cry of pain, Alphamon was blasted away from DexDorugoramon, landing on his back. Grunting, he struggled to get to his feet, only to find himself surrounded by hissing, infuriated DexDorugamon."Aw, crap."

"No, no, don't be like that, you little shits," DexDorugoramon snapped at his weaker relations, much to their surprise. "This is my fault, not his. I was foolish enough to challenge him, do not punish him for my mistake in judgment." As the DexDorugamon reluctantly backed away, DexDorugoramon grabbed Ouryuken by the shaft, clenched his teeth, and ripped it out, grunting slightly as blood and data seeped from the wound. "Ahhhh… I really did underestimate you, brother. Even though your strength has atrophied, you still pack quite a punch. A little more power behind that blow, and you may have actually killed me."

"A pity I didn't," Alphamon growled.

"On the other hand, if you had, you would not be walking away from here in one piece," DexDorugoramon continued, placing a hand on his wound. "This is a lesson for both of us, I think. For you, proof that you're not quite as big a coward as imagined. And for me, not to do something as ass-backwards _stupid_ as invite someone I know hates me to get a free shot in, no matter _how_ certain I am he's too terrified to take it. I think I shall allow this wound to scar, rather than regenerate, as a reminder of the folly of hubris. Take some pleasure in that, brother."

"I intend to," Alphamon said coldly. "And I think… I think that I actually have to _thank_ you, as much as I hate to admit it, DexDorugoramon."

"Oh? I was not aware I done something worth being thankful for," DexDorugamon asked, surprised.

"You've made me look at things in a different way. Made me realize what is that I need to do. What I should've done at the start. What I was too much of a coward to do when I should have," Alphamon said curtly.

DexDorugoramon grinned slowly. "I see. And since I know that this realization will cause you, and perhaps one other, a great deal of pain, I'm more than happy to know that I have helped you in some way, brother."

"Probably the first time you've _ever_ helped me," Alphamon grumbled, turning away.

"Do come back soon, brother," DexDorugoramon called after Alphamon as he started walking away, past the hordes of uncertain DexDorugamon. "I so enjoy our chats."

"Are you certain about this, my Lord?" One of the DexDorugreymon asked once Alphamon was out of earshot. "He hurt you, and he knows more than he should."

"I had it coming," DexDorugoramon said with a shrug. "And besides, it's been a while since I've felt pain. I'd forgotten how _wonderful_ it felt. And besides," he said with a cruel smile. "I think I'll relish the pain I have caused him this day far more than the sight of seeing him torn limb from limb ever could."

He turned and headed for the gates leading into the interior of Yggdrasil. "Now come. I think this encounter is worth interrupting Father's stories for. He always does enjoy hearing tales about Alphamon getting emasculated…"

…

Meicoomon started as the driver's side car door opened up and Alphamon sat down next to her, Mica quickly muting the program they'd been watching on the TV built into the dashboard. "You're back!" she said in relief. "It was getting late. I was so worried!"

"You're right to be. I'm still surprised I made it out of there in one piece," Alphamon said, finding himself unable to look her in the eye, lest he lose his newfound resolve.

"So… What happened?" Meicoomon asked anxiously. "Did you find out what you needed to know?"

"I… I did, yes," Alphamon said uncomfortably. "On that front, this venture was a total success."

"And? What did you learn?" Meicoomon asked, the look on her face torn between anticipation and dread.

Alphamon dug his fingers into his steering wheel. "… Not now, Meicoomon."

Meicoomon blinked in surprise. "What? But-"

"NOT. NOW," he snapped, harsher that he meant to, instantly regretting it when he saw her flinch away from him and Mica snarl angrily. "I… I'm sorry, I just… What I learned… I can't… Not now, okay?"

"… Okay," Meicoomon said uneasily. "Will… Will you tell me when we get back?"

Alphamon stared straight ahead, out his windshield, at the massive tree looming before them. "… Let's get away from here first, Meicoomon. Being here, it… It always brings out the worst me."

"O-okay," she said nervously as he started up the car. "When we get back, after we deal with everything important, could we… Could we finish Steven? I really want to find out what happens next."

 _I'm sure you'll be able to,_ he thought morosely. _Just not with me._ "We all want to find out what happens next in life, Meicoomon," he said grimly. "Sometimes, the worst thing you can get is to learn what that is."

And on that worrying note, they drove away, leaving Yggdrasil, and all its horrors, behind them, but even away from its physical shadow, its metaphorical one still cast a pall over Alphamon's spirit _. She's never going to forgive me for this,_ Alphamon thought to himself, aware of the kitten's worried gaze. _Nor should she. But she can't stay with me. The most responsible thing I can do for her…_

 _Is to give her away…_


	7. Broken Together

Disclaimer: I don't own anything that doesn't belong to me.

…

An uneasy silence filled the car as Alphamon steadily drove on and on, staring straight ahead of him and not sparing a glance at his passenger. A few times, Meicoomon was tempted to speak up, but one look at Alphamon, how focused and frustrated and… _Defeated_ he seemed, and she lost her nerve. Eventually, after some prompting from Mica, she finally spoke, the first words that had been uttered in the car since their departure from Yggdrasil. "So… Um… The scenery, it looks… Nice…" She said lamely.

"I suppose so," Alphamon grunted, still not looking at her.

Meicoomon shrunk back into her seat, ears flattened against her head. Mica firmly nudged her, and she swallowed and said, "It, um, doesn't look like the scenery on our way to Yggdrasil. Are we, um, are we taking a different route back to headquarters?"

There was a long silence, making the already tense interior of the car feel even more stifled and awkward. Finally, tightly gripping the steering wheel, Alphamon said, "We aren't going back to headquarters, Meicoomon."

"Oh," Meicoomon said quietly. Frustrated, Mica nudged her again, and she blurted out, "Where, um, where are we going, then?"

Alphamon clutched the wheel even tighter. With a deep sigh, he said, "I'm taking you to Gallantmon and Sakuyamon's country. They're going to be taking care of you from now on."

Meicoomon shot up in her seat, aghast. "Wh-what?! But-but I thought that-"

"That you were going to stay with me? That I'd adopt you and the two of us would be father and daughter, becoming the first real family either of us ever had, each of us completing the other in a way that we've longed for for years, but were never able to before?" He said, a bit more harshly then he intended, causing Meicoomon to flinch. Seeing this, Alphamon closed his eyes for a moment, took a deep breath, and sighed wearily. "Funny thing is, that's what I thought too. Unfortunately, that's just not in the cards, Meicoomon."

"B-but _why?!"_ Meicoomon begged, starting to cry. "I-if it's something I did, I promise I won't do it again! Please, don't-"

"Meicoomon, you didn't do anything," Alphamon interrupted. "You're… You're wonderful, better than you give yourself credit for. Better, in fact, than someone like me deserves. That's why I'm giving you to Gallantmon and Sakuyamon. They know how to raise a child the right way. They know how to heal the wounds you bear on your body and in your soul. They know how to teach you to be strong and brave and good. They know how to do all the things that I just can't. They're the heroes, Meicoomon. Like I told you before, I'm not one."

"B-but you _are_!" Meicoomon protested. "You're _my_ hero! You saved me!"

"Saved you? When did I-" Alphamon laughed harshly. "What, you mean when I mutilated DexDorugamon?! Meicoomon, I wasn't saving you. You were never in any danger! That asshole was just going to leave you in my custody and bugger off, never to be seen again! I didn't hurt him to protect you, I did it because… Because he insinuated I was something that I wasn't, or maybe something that I am, but just didn't want to admit to myself. Because I've always hated those little bastards, and have wanted to punch them in the face and rip off their wings and beat the shit out of them for years. I didn't hurt him for you, Meicoomon. Don't kid yourself on that front. I'm not nearly that selfless. I did it for myself. For purely selfish, petty reasons."

Meicoomon's face fell. "But-"

"You want to know who I am, Meicoomon? Who I really am? What sort of Digimon I am, deep down inside?" Alphamon snapped. "Have you ever heard of the X Antibody?"

"That… Um… It's some sort of virus that some Digimon catch that turns them into monsters? Like what I do?" Meicoomon asked timidly, intimidated and more than a little frightened.

Alphamon shook his head. "No, that's just what the propagandists say. The X-Antibody is completely harmless. It's an utterly benign program that, when a Digimon gets infected by it, causes them to undergo a form of Digivolution that transforms them into a stronger version of themselves while also making them look somewhat 'cooler.' That's it. Just a power boost and a makeover. There are absolutely no negative side effects whatsoever."

Meicoomon blinked in confusion. "But… But then why-"

"Why are Digimon who have the antibody stigmatized, shunned, and hunted down? Because they're a reminder of a failed genocide Yggdrasil carried out eons ago that he really, really hates being reminded of and doesn't want anyone else to remember either," Alphamon sneered. "As such, for ages, standard operating procedure has been to track down and kill any Digimon with the antibody. And guess whose job that often was, ever since I sold our souls to Yggdrasil?"

Meicoomon stared at him in disbelief for moment before her eyes widened in horror. "No."

"Yes."

"You…y-you actually…" Meicoomon stammered, horrified.

"Killed countless Digimon whose only crime was not having their firewalls and virus protection software up-to-date? Yep," Alphamon said bluntly. "Oh, and not just innocent civilians, either! The Royal Knights aren't exempt from this rule, either. Remember how I told you Magnamon was going to get killed by UlforceVeedramon a little while ago? That's because Magnamon got the antibody, so UlforceVeedramon was going to put him down. That's right; he was going to murder his own cousin, just because he didn't use proper protection when sleeping with some floozy."

"Th-that's…"

"And it wouldn't be the first time, either!" Alphamon said bitterly. "You know how many times we've had to kill and replace members of our order because of that awful, bigoted rule? I hope someone does, because honestly, I've lost count. Geez, I can't even remember at which point I just… I just stopped _caring_ …"

"How… How could you possibly do all that?" Meicoomon asked weakly, struggling to comprehend what Alphamon was telling her, tears streaming down her cheeks.

"After a while, you just get used to it, I guess," Alphamon said bitterly. "And don't you dare try to rationalize it. What I've done, what we've all done, it's sick and twisted and wrong, and the only reason we don't do it anymore is because Craniamon just happened to discover a cure for the antibody. If it weren't for that, it would still be business as usual as far as Digimon who caught the antibody are concerned. And if you're wondering why we just went along with it…" He shrugged. "Well, at first we didn't realize it was wrong. As far as we knew, X Digimon really WERE a threat to the safety of the Digital World, and needed to be put down. Naturally, that changed once we found out the truth, that while some of them really _were_ criminals, or villains trying to take advantage of their powers to cause trouble, most them were just innocent civilians who'd gotten sick one day and wound up turning into something new and unprecedented. Once we realized we were killing innocent people, we tried to resist, to refuse to do it. We… Were rather quickly put in our place. A number of my colleagues resigned in protest, which amounted to nothing because most of them were replaced by Digimon that had far fewer compunctions with killing people who hadn't done anything wrong. Things might've been different if I had resigned as well, since the Royal Knights can't EXIST without me, but…" He shrugged impotently. "Well, I was a fool and didn't know when to let go. Something you already know.

"So, we tried to get clever, to fake their executions, to help them escape to somewhere safe. Then they were all tracked down and murdered anyway, and we were made to pay a very severe price. And then… And then after a while, we just stopped trying. Eventually, it became routine. Even the most horrifying things can become less so if it happens often enough. Granted, we didn't exactly do a particularly GOOD job of it, out of some form of passive aggressive rebellion or sheer apathy and laziness, but we still did it, and so are all damned. I'm aware that Gallantmon and a couple of the others have been doing their best to protect X Digimon from the rest of us, and have done nothing to stop them." He glanced sharply at Meicoomon. "Which isn't an excuse, just so you know. Just because I didn't hinder them didn't mean I helped them, either. It's not something to justify our actions, _my_ actions. Especially once you know the rest of it."

"The… The rest of it?" Meicoomon asked hesitantly, filled with dread.

Alphamon nodded severely. "Yep. The rest of it. The whole truth. The thing I've never told anyone, ANYONE, in my entire existence. Only a handful of people suspect this, but almost nobody knows for sure, not even my brother or father. And once you know it, once you know this truth, you'll never be able to look at me the same way, and you'll understand why I'm leaving you with Gallantmon and Sakuyamon." He took a deep breath. For a moment, he wondered if he should do this. Because he knew, without a shadow of a doubt, that this would shatter her view of him completely and irrevocably.

Which was, probably, the reason he went and did it anyway. He had to destroy the pedestal she'd put him on if she was ever going to let him go. "Meicoomon, _I_ am the source of the X-antibody."

Once again, the interior of the car was silent. "Wh-what?" Meicoomon asked after a moment.

"The two of us really do have a lot of in common, Meicoomon. When I was your age, I was a lot like you. The only Digimon of my kind, alone in the world, shunned and ostracized by many… And, without realizing it, the carrier for a disease which altered the Digimon who got infected with it beyond recognition," Alphamon explained. "The main difference was that my disease didn't actually harm Digimon, and I wasn't the only carrier. There were maybe half a dozen others… Not sure how many of them are still alive now… But I still share responsibility.

"It wasn't until much later in life that I realized this, of course," Alphamon went on as Meicoomon just stared at him, jaw dropped, eyes wide and unblinking, Mica's growl slowly growing in volume. "I had no clue for most of my early life that I was one of the sources of the X-antibody. After I Digivolved for the first time, the virus went dormant in my body – – or at least, I suspect as much, since nobody around me has underwent X-Digivolution in ages – – so stopped infecting Digimon with it, but by that point, enough people had already caught the disease and were spreading it to others that it didn't matter. The first time I suspected that I might have some connection to the X-antibody was when I noticed that a large number of the Digimon we were being sent out to kill were Digimon I had encountered when I was much younger. Even then, I didn't know for certain – – or rather, refused to believe it was even possible – – until a checkup revealed that there were traces of the antibody in my data. However, given that I clearly had not undergone X-Digivolution and didn't have an X in my name, the doctors assumed that it was residue I picked up from the X Digimon I'd killed in the past and that I was simply naturally immune, which is far from an illogical conclusion. It was, unfortunately, the wrong one, and I realized there could only be one other explanation: that I was one of the Digimon that had originally spread the virus to the masses, making me one of the most wanted and infamous Digimon alive. If anyone, even my closest friends—not that I had many left at that point-realized the truth, they would kill me, and even if they didn't, I'd spend the rest of my life as a fugitive. Not only that, it meant that all of the deaths caused by Digimon getting the X-antibody, whether they killed other people or were killed in turn by others – – such as us – – was on my hands. Thousands of people were dead, directly or indirectly, because of me. And, with this greater understanding of my responsibility in the outbreak and empathy towards those whom I'd been hunting down all this time, what do you think I did?"

"… Helped?" Meicoomon asked hesitantly, already aware that was probably the wrong answer.

"Nothing," Alphamon said flatly. "Absolutely fucking nothing. Even with this newfound revelation, I acted no different than I had before, too paralyzed by guilt and terror to do anything else out of fear that someone might somehow figure out that I was to blame, and turn me in. And that's basically what I've been doing ever since: letting the genocide continue unabated while ruthlessly squashing any potential hints or rumors that I might be the cause for all this, because I was too much of a coward to speak up, admit responsibility, and do the goddamn right thing. Even after I my lost the will to live, it never occurred to me to just tell everyone the truth so they'd put me down and end my torment, because by that point I'd gotten so used to doing whatever was necessary to keep up the lie, or maybe I was just too much of a Kokatorimon to take my own life or give others an excuse to do it for me. Even after Craniamon came up with the cure for the X-antibody, I _still_ kept silent, because I knew that if anyone found out that I'd known I was the source of the X-antibody all long, but hadn't done anything, I'd be hated more than I already was, and lose whatever miniscule shred of credibility I had left. I'm a failure as a Knight, a complete and utter disgrace as a leader and successor for Imperialdramon Paladin mode, a fucking hypocrite, and a spineless coward. I am most definitely _not_ a hero."

The car was silent again. Meicoomon didn't say anything. Didn't scream or curse or call him out for his actions. In a way, that made things worse. It would've been better than the quiet ambiguity in the air, this growing tension between the two of them. Whoever had said the truth would set you free was a moron, even after admitting his darkest secret Alphamon felt no relief, only even more miserable than ever.

"Anyway," Alphamon said finally. "That's why I'm taking you to Gallantmon and Sakuyamon, because, as should now be self-evident, I'm one of the worst possible goddamn people to be your foster father. I can't possibly be trusted to raise a child, given my long track record of absolute failures. I can't… I can't even keep you safe from the people who did this to you, even if they've more or less lost interest in you for the time being, because I fucking _work_ for them." He sighed. "And while Gallantmon and Sakuyamon might also be hypocrites in a way – – just ask them about their siblings sometime, and why they seem content to let them run around doing as they please – –they'll still be better caretakers for you than I ever possibly could be. They'll give you the care and kindness you deserve, help you start a new and wonderful life and their utopian country, and eventually forget all about bad old Alphamon and never need to see me again-"

"I forgive you."

"And one day, all of this will be nothing more than a bad memory and what did you just say."

"I forgive you," Meicoomon repeated, staring at Alphamon with big, wet, shimmering eyes.

Alphamon hit the brakes hard. Both of them jumped forward in their seats, only barely held back by their seatbelts. "WHAT."

"I forgive-"

"I heard you the first goddamn time! What do you _mean_ , you forgive me?!" Alphamon demanded. "Have, have you not been listening to a _thing_ I just said?! People have _died_ because of me, Meicoomon! Died, because I did nothing to help them!"

"People have died because of me too, and I did nothing to help them," Meicoomon said quietly.

Alphamon froze. "That's… That's not the same thing, Meicoomon. I was aware of what my actions had done, but did nothing to correct them. You… You didn't know what was happening, and even if you did, you were in no position to change it."

"It's not the same thing, but it's more similar than you think," Meicoomon pointed out. "Both of us were the unwitting vectors for a dangerous disease which has caused countless deaths and worse across the Digital World. Even if it wasn't something either of us could control, it's still our fault."

"Yeah, but your virus was being deliberately harvested and spread by Yggdrasil's goons, while everyone with MY virus is on those same bastards' hit list and not only did I do nothing to help them, I KILLED a lot of them, and was too terrified that I'd wind up on the same list to do anything about it!" Alphamon protested. "Don't you get it? I'm not a hero. I'm not a savior, or a friend, or a dad, or whatever the hell you think I am. I'm a _monster_!"

"Would a monster have any regard for the people they hurt, by accident or otherwise?" Meicoomon asked him, paraphrasing Sakuyamon. "Would a monster take the time to care for a scared little girl, and go out of his way to make her feel wanted and safe, and feed her and watch television with her and promise to do everything in his power to make those who hurt her pay? Because… Because by that token, if you're a monster, then so am I."

"… A bad person can sometimes do good things, but that doesn't change the fact that they're a bad person," Alphamon said quietly, voice broken.

"Then a good person can sometimes do bad things, but still be a good person, can't they?" Meicoomon pointed out.

"I'm not sure it works that way," Alphamon said doubtfully.

"No matter how many times you claim you're bad… To me, you'll always be good. You _saved_ me," Meicoomon insisted.

Alphamon groaned. "Meicoomon, we just got through this-"

"I'm not talking about DexDorugamon," she interrupted him.

Alphamon blinked. "You're not? Then…"

"Before we met, I had nothing. Less than nothing," Meicoomon said softly. "Everyone I'd ever cared about and thought cared about me turned their backs on me. My life was nothing but an endless cycle of abuse and torment and loneliness. I've long since lost all hope that things could change, and resigned myself to every day being worse than the next… And worst of all, I convinced myself that I _deserved_ it, just for the crime of existing."

"… Meicoomon…"

"And then I met you," the feline continued. "You… You were the first person since my life went downhill to treat me like… Like I was a person, and not a test subject, or something to be hit, or… Or pitied. While the other people I've met today have done the same, that doesn't change the fact that… That you were the first. That you were the first person to make me think that… That there was hope for the future. That I could have a home. A family. That… That I could be happy." She looked at Alphamon. "And that's why… No matter what you've done or say you did, no matter what you think about yourself… To me, you'll always be my hero. Because you saved me from a life without hope. Because you saved me from my despair."

"… You… You can still have a home, and family, and happiness. Why… Why are you so sure it has to be with me?" Alphamon asked, unable to meet the child's eyes, overwhelmed by just how much she… She trusted and _believed_ in him, despite everything.

"Because while I'm sure Gallantmon and Sakuyamon would do everything they can to make me feel loved and accepted and happy, they… They can't ever really understand me, no matter how hard they try. Not like you can. Because… Because we're the same. You know that, right?" Meicoomon implored Alphamon. "We're both responsible for a great deal of suffering for something we couldn't really control. We're both… We're both filled with guilt and remorse for what we've done, either willingly or unwittingly. We both understand what it's like to be alone and unloved, like the whole world is out to get us. We both know what it's like to be the only one of our kind in the whole world. We were both born with a virus inside of us that we couldn't help but spread beyond our control. And… Both of us are broken inside in a way that we might never be able to heal from."

She reached out to lay a paw on Alphamon's arm (a bit easier said than done, given how big the seat was and how small she was in comparison). "But… Maybe we can be broken together?"

Alphamon stared at her for a long, long while. Finally, he said, "All right, first off, that was beautiful. Second… You, uh, you weren't hitting me with just then, were you?"

"What?! No! Why would you think-" Meicoomon cried, startled.

"Sorry, it's just, everything you just said could be construed in a romantic context-" Alphamon stammered.

"I-it wasn't! It was… I don't know what the term for it is, but it definitely wasn't that!" Meicoomon insisted, clearly flustered.

"Okay. Good. Because if it were, that, ah, would make things incredibly awkward between us," Alphamon said in relief.

"Even more awkward then you just made it?" Meicoomon asked in disbelief.

"Somehow, yes," Alphamon said, embarrassed.

Both of them looked away from each other, cheeks red, and an uncomfortable silence descended on the car aside from the sound of Micah laughing hysterically in the background.

Finally, Alphamon said, "So, um, I guess I just ruined the moment, then."

"Y-yeah, you kind of did," Meicoomon muttered.

"So, um, everything you just said… You… You really mean it? You really want to stay with me, despite… Despite everything?" Alphamon asked hesitantly, as if unable to bring himself to believe it.

"Yes," Meicoomon said. "I really do."

Alphamon realized, just then, that he was crying. So was she. "Fuck," he said finally. "Okay. I give up. You win."

Meicoomon's eyes lit up. "Then you mean…?"

Alphamon nodded. "Yeah. You can stay with me."

The look of absolute heartfelt joy on her face, the smile crossing her face more radiant than the sun, was one of the most beautiful things Alphamon had seen in years. She probably would've hugged him right then and there she weren't securely buckled into her child's seat. Mica was clearly ecstatic as well, given how she was dancing and twirling through the air, leaving trails of sparkling embers in her wake. "Thank you. Thank… Thank you so much. This is… This is more than I ever dreamed…"

"It's not something I ever imagined would happen to me, either," Alphamon said quietly, wiping away his tears. _I never considered this, not even for a moment. Not even back then. Not even when I was with…_

He quickly cut off that line of thought. Thinking about _her_ always hurt too much.

"Does… Does this mean I can call you dad?" Meicoomon asked hopefully.

Alphamon's heart fluttered for a moment. "If that's… If that's what you want me to be, yes. And if you want to be the daughter of a washed up has been failure of a Knight like myself."

"Yes! Yes, I would!" the feline said ecstatically.

"Then I guess I'm your dad, and you're my daughter," Alphamon said with more calm than he truly felt. "Damn. Me, a father. This is actually happening. This is… I think… I think I actually feel happy. That's… Wow. I don't think I've felt like this in a very, very long time. ENIAC, that's depressing." Much to his annoyance, he realized he was crying again.

"It's okay to cry," Meicoomon told him, tearing up again as well.

"Not if I'm going to be driving, we're not," Alphamon grunted, wiping his face again. "I want to be able to see the road, after all."

"Then… Does this mean we're going… Home?" Meicoomon said eagerly, ears twitching in delight at the thought that at long last she really _had_ a home.

He was about to respond in the affirmative when a thought occurred to him. Something resonating so strongly with him, that he realized there was no other option but to do it. "Not just yet," Alphamon said, shifting the car into drive, the engine revving as they started forth once again.

Meicoomon blinked. "Huh? But… Where else would we go? Are we… Are we going back to the tree, so you can-"

"No, we're not going back to the tree," Alphamon interrupted her. "Not yet, anyway. We aren't ready. If we're going to take Yggdrasil down – – and we _will_ take him down," he said, vehemently, surprising himself by how sincerely he meant this. _So much for being a coward, eh DexDorugoramon?_ "It'll take a lot more than just me, especially in the shape I'm in. We'll get them, but it's going to take a while before we're anywhere close to ready. Where we're going, however, is to take the first step."

"The first step?" She asked, puzzled.

Alphamon nodded as he accelerated, the landscape flying by on either side of them. "As I am now, I'm not the Digimon that you, no, the _world_ needs. I need to be something more. Something better. Something like I once was, and hope to be again. If I'm going to be the father you deserve, and the hero this world requires, I need to begin anew. Start from scratch. Put the past behind me and all that. Live up to my potential and become the person Imperialdramon Paladin Mode-" _And her._ "-believed I could be. And if it's a new beginning I'm looking for, it's only right that it starts where all this _really_ began.

"We're going back to the beginning, Meicoomon. To the place where the Royal Knights came to be…"


	8. A promise amidst the ashes

Disclaimer: I don't own anything that doesn't belong to me.

...

The sports car came to a stop, dust and ashes swirling around it, coating the glossy black body in a dull coat of gray. After wiping away some dust from the windshield with the windshield wipers, Alphamon switched off the car, unbuckled Meicoomon, and exited the vehicle. "We're here," he said quietly.

Meicoomon regarded their surroundings with more than a little trepidation. The ground, the sky, the buildings and trees… Everything was a dull, dead gray. The earth was covered in a thick layer of ashes and dust, settling down from the disruption caused by their arrival. The sky was covered in an equally thick layer of gray gloomy clouds, blocking out the sun. Surrounding them were the remains of what must have at one point been a great metropolis, but now all that was left were broken buildings and ruins in varying degrees of decay. Trees sprouted here and there, but were little more than broken skeletal figures, petrified wood without a single leaf or sprout of life to be found. Off in the distance was a megalithic form that she had assumed, at first glance, was a towering mountain, but now she realized was actually a _Castle_ , an edifice bigger even than Yggdrasil, its form looming over the barren land stretching out in every direction.

And the lands truly were _barren_. Meicoomon had seen a few deserts and wastelands during their drive to Yggdrasil, and then to this place, but all of those were practically gardens of Eden compared to this place, the difference between this land and the realm outside clear to see the instant they crossed an invisible demarcation and found themselves surrounded by gray, lifeless wastes in every direction, the utter desolation broken here and there by dead trees and the occasional ruined building or settlement.

There was not a breath or hint of life to be found. As far as she could tell, there was no indication that anything other than Alphamon and herself was alive in this place. She shuddered, and a shivering Micah curled up against her, the spirit clearly just as unnerved by how utterly _dead_ everything was. "What… What is this place?" She asked finally, her voice coming out in barely a whisper, unable to bring herself to speak too loudly, lest she rouse whatever restless ghosts haunted this place.

Alphamon knelt and scooped up a handful of dust, eyes fixed on it as it gradually seeped through his fingers. "Once upon a time, there was a place of great goodness called Arcodia. Gentle Digimon gamboled there amidst happy, laughing spirits. The sounds of innocence and joy filled the air. And when it rained, it rained sweet nectar that infused one's heart with a desire to live life in truth and beauty. The light shone down upon it always, filling its people with love and prosperity. Compared to this place, Sakuyamon's realm of magic and wonder is nothing more than a pale reflection of a reflection's reflection, a feeble shadow utterly outshone by the radiance and purity of this land.

"For a time… This place was my home."

He glanced up at the Castle, eyes trembling. "Arcodia was always a beacon of light and hope for the Digital World, no matter how hopeless and dire things seemed. Its armies were unmatched, its magic and technology and alchemy beyond compare, its rulers the finest and noblest Royal family the Digital World has ever known. King Solomon the Wise, the noble Queen Shebamon the Indomitable, and… And Princess Najamon, the… The kindest, sweetest, smartest, bravest, most incredible Digimon I've ever known. Even Sakuyamon is but a lowly Numemon wallowing in its own filth compared to her peerless beauty, warm and caring heart, and mastery of magic. Though, uh, don't tell Gallantmon I said that."

"… Did you love her?" Meicoomon asked softly.

Alphamon chuckled bitterly. "Meicoomon, you couldn't be in her presence for five seconds without falling madly in love with her. But yes, I loved her. And the thing that made me different from every other sap out there who pined for her was that, for some reason, she returned my feelings. If… If things had gone differently… Then she might be your mother right now."

Meicoomon's eyes widened at the thought of that. A mother… "What… What happened?"

Alphamon turned his hand over, letting the remaining ashes fall out of his palm, and then extended it to Meicoomon. "It's a bit of a long story. I'll tell you on the way."

The feline jumped into his hand, then scurried up his arm onto his shoulder. Once she was settled, Alphamon spread his wings and took flight, the gust of displaced air from his launch blasting dust and ashes away in every direction. As they soared towards the looming Castle, getting higher and higher with every flap of his wings, Alphamon began to speak while Meicoomon stared at the cityscape and surrounding wasteland below, feeling more than a little sorrow at the desolate, dead terrain that seemed to stretch out beneath them in every direction. "As I said before, Arcodia was one of the greatest sources of good the Digital World has ever known. However, where there is light there must be darkness, and on the opposite side of the world from here that darkness manifested in a place of almost unimaginable power, chock-full of dark forces and vicious secrets. No prayers dared penetrate this frightful maw. Spirits there cared not for good deeds and priestly invocations. They were as like to rip the muscle from your bones as greet you with a happy welcome. And, if harnessed, these spirits, this hidden land of unmuffled screams and broken hearts, would offer up a power so vast that its bearer might reorder the world itself to their liking. This place, this pit which was the source of all the world's woes, was known by many names, the most common of which… Was Distopia."

A shudder ran down Meicoomon's name from the utterance of that word, and Mica hissed in alarm, her entire form flickering, as if the very thought of this place was anathema to her very being. "Distopia…"

"Nearly all the world's evils can trace their origin back, in one form or another, to that wretched place," Alphamon said solemnly. "And, inevitably, the day came when the dark forces within that lightless realm could no longer stand to be confined to its borders. An entity of unthinkable power, infinite malice, and unspeakable horror called the Dark Ruler came into being and rose to power, setting forth with its 13 Archfiends to dominate the entire world and cast it into eternal shadow. Kingdom after kingdom fell to the unyielding flood of darkness… All except for Arcodia, which, as always, stood steadfast against the forces of evil. Their continued resistance and unbreakable will again and again served as a rallying cry for those oppressed by the forces of evil, as well as a constant embarrassment towards the dark ones, for if they could not snuff out this last and brightest light, the world would never truly be theirs.

"However, Arcodia's greatest hero and champion knew that, no matter how hard they fought, it was only a matter of time until eventually the Dark Ruler's hordes managed to batter down their gates and destroy them as they had all the rest. Believing that hope could be found beyond Arcodia's borders, he set out with a vast army to travel across the length and breadth of the benighted Digital World, seeking valiant heroes like himself who could be rallied to Arcodia's banner.

"A year and a day after he left, he returned with only 13 Digimon. One of them was me."

Meicoomon gasped, realization dawning on her. "You mean…"

Alphamon nodded. "Yes. He was my master, Imperialdramon Paladin mode, and the 13 were the original Royal Knights." He chuckled. "What, didn't you think it was odd that we're called the ROYAL Knights, even though we don't serve a Royal family?"

"I never thought about it before now, honestly," Meicoomon admitted.

"Most people don't," Alphamon confessed with a sigh. "In any event, under the watchful gaze of the royal family, Imperialdramon Paladin Mode trained us, honed us, sharpened our skills and forged us together into an unstoppable team, answerable only to him and to the Royals whom we had sworn to serve above all else… Especially, in my case, the Princess.

"Once we were ready, we ventured out into the world, striking back against the dark forces, reclaiming territories and striking down evil beings left and right before they even knew what was happening. By the time they actually realized we were a threat, we had reclaimed nearly half of the Digital World, and were making good inroads on the remaining half. They regrouped faster than we would've hoped, regrettably, but by that point we were no longer alone in the fight, and the battles which followed those days were among the greatest the Digital World has ever seen, a war between light and darkness, good and evil, that has never been repeated since."

"It sounds incredible," Meicoomon whispered, awestruck.

"It sounds better than it actually was. War is a horrible, messy affair, Meicoomon, even when the line between you and your foe is as clear as black and white, and you're an honorable warrior of justice and the enemy is totally irredeemable piles of excrement," Alphamon told her firmly. "I pray that you never have to experience anything even a fraction of what we did. That we were able to retain our ideals, let alone our sanity in those trying times was nothing short of a miracle, and testament to how strong our bond with each other, and our loyalty to the nation that had taken us in and given us a home, really was." His tone softened. "And, at least in my case, I had… Something else to give me strength, something worth fighting for."

"The Princess?" Meicoomon asked.

Alphamon nodded. "Yeah. She wasn't out there on the frontlines often – – she had responsibilities back home and all – – but she was willing to help out whenever she could. I guess love really _can_ bloom on a battlefield." He smiled. "As weird as it might sound, despite the constant warfare, I honestly have to say those days were the best of my life, although I will freely admit that might just be nostalgia talking. I had true friends and brothers in arms that would die for me, and I would do the same for them. I had a mentor and father figure far worthier of the name then my actual dad. I had the honor of serving a master, a cause, a kingdom, a _home_ worth fighting for. And I had somehow managed to win the heart of the most incredible woman I've ever known." His face fell. "But of course, it couldn't last."

"What happened?" Meicoomon asked softly. "Did… Did you lose?" She asked, looking at the lifeless wastes beneath them.

"On the contrary," he said grimly as they touched down in a courtyard before the Castle. "We won."

Meicoomon looked up and up and up at the colossal edifice looming over them. Once upon a time, it must've been magnificent, a Palace beyond imagining, a royal residence far outshining anything that could be found in fairytales or real life. Now all that remained was a hollow shell of what it had once been, a colossal ruin devoid of the life and majesty it must've had in days long past. When she looked at it, all she could feel was sadness, and more than a little empty. "It… Doesn't look like it."

"No," Alphamon said sadly. "It doesn't, doesn't?" He glanced at Mica. "It's going to be pretty dark inside. Do you think you could provide us with some light, please?"

The Fox spirit nodded, her flames flaring out, radiating a tremendous amount of light and warmth. As Alphamon passed through the palace gates and into the pitch black interior, the spirit's light shone even brighter, illuminating the space around them. Alphamon glanced around, muttering to himself. "It's been a long while since I was last here… I think it was… Yes, this way."

He ventured forth deeper into the palace, leaving the dim but no less welcome light from the entrance behind them. Very soon, Micah's light was the only source of luminance in the shadowed halls of the decaying castle, but rather than illuminating their surroundings, it only seemed to better emphasize just how _dark_ it was, as if the world outside the circle of light Mica provided no longer existed. Meicoomon shuddered, feeling as if the shadows were just waiting for her companion's strength to ebb, even for a moment, so that they would rush in and swallow them whole.

"Don't worry," Alphamon spoke up, sensing her anxiety. "The darkness won't hurt you. It's just the absence of light. The _real_ darkness hasn't touched these lands for a very long time."

"What happened?" Meicoomon asked. "I thought you said the dark forces couldn't get into Arcodia."

"They couldn't. Not at first, anyway," Alphamon said as he navigated the dark corridors from memory. "As the war went on, the Dark Ruler grew more and more frustrated at our perseverance. No matter what it threw at us, we were winning, eating into its territory bit by bit as we slowly returned the light to the Digital World. Eventually, it ran out of patience. Deciding to end the conflict once and for all, it absorbed the entirety of Distopia, devouring the darkness and all who dwelled within it, becoming a being of purest evil. Well, purer evil than it already was, anyway. Using its greater power to enhance the strength of its forces and the 13 Archfiends, the Dark Ruler personally took to the field, marching towards Arcodia, crushing and sweeping away all who stood before it, bringing darkness back to the lands we'd fought so hard to liberate. When it finally reached our borders, it walked right through our defenses like they weren't even there, darkness following in its wake to spread out across the land, its minions murdering and pillaging to their blackened hearts' content as their master moved with single-minded purpose towards the capital. Millions died before we could evacuate them to safety."

"That's terrible…" Meicoomon whispered, horrified.

"Yeah, it really was. We quickly regrouped our forces and rode out to meet them before they could reach the capital and everyone hiding inside, hoping to end the battle before more innocent lives could be lost. We came at them with absolutely everything we had left, our armies clashed against theirs, the 13 Royal Knights dueling the 13 Archfiends while Imperialdramon Paladin Mode and the Royal family confronted the Dark Ruler itself. The resulting battle was so massive, so epic in scale, words cannot describe it, and countless poets have tried and failed throughout the ages. It was a fight that shook the Digital World to its very foundations, nearly tearing it apart from the collision of unfathomable powers, the greatest battle the Digital World has ever seen, and one that I hope it never has to again, the ultimate showdown of light versus darkness, good versus evil, order versus chaos, hope versus despair. It went on for 13 days and 13 nights, and the Digital World was a very different place by the time we were finished. Or at least, Arcodia was.

"One by one, the Archfiends fell before the strength of the Royal Knights. Sadly, not all of us managed to survive, but at least we made sure that if we were to die, we managed to take the bastards down with us. I myself slew the leader of the archfiends in single combat. I can safely say that, to this day, he is the strongest, fiercest, deadliest opponent I've ever crossed swords with. Even to this day I'm still not sure how I managed to best him, but best him I did. And once I prevailed, I rallied everyone that was left and charged in to help my mentor and the Royal family, who were still locked in combat with the Dark Ruler. I didn't care that it was a fight the likes of which mere mortals could not even dream of participating in, there was no way I could even think of not helping my master, my liege, my _Princess_ , in this, their last and greatest struggle.

"It was close. Very, very close. Even now, I still occasionally have nightmares of how we came within a hair's breadth of losing everything. But, somehow, by some miracle, we managed to prevail. All of us, working together, struck down the Dark Ruler, with Imperialdramon Paladin Mode dealing the final blow. But…" He shook his head sadly. "None of us ever imagined that in victory, we also embraced our defeat."

"What do you mean?" Meicoomon asked, enthralled by the tale…and dreading how it would end.

Alphamon closed his eyes for a moment, steadying himself. "With its last breath, the Dark Ruler cast a death curse, attempting to unleash all of its unfathomable dark power in a single burst, which would destroy not just the Digital World, but the human world, and every other world and dimension in close proximity to our own, and probably a few other realities as well. The Royal family and my master struggled to prevent it from happening, but were only able to limit the explosion to within the boundaries of Arcodia. The king and queen and Imperialdramon Paladin Mode sacrificed themselves to try and shield as many of us as they could from the blast… But it wasn't enough. In the end, all that remained were the Princess, myself, and a handful of Knights. Everything else, every _one_ else, was completely and utterly obliterated, wiped out so completely their data was probably permanently deleted from existence. You saw the result outside."

"Th-that's…" Meicoomon gasped. "That's… Horrible…"

"We… Took it pretty badly, understandably. In a flash, we'd lost everyone. Everything we'd fought for. Just about everyone we cared about. All the millions of Digimon in Arcodia, the kingdom itself… All just… Gone…" Fighting back tears, Alphamon slammed a fist into a wall, which he quickly regretted when the surface started cracking and the ceiling above them shifted ominously. Quickly moving further down the corridor, he continued. "And we didn't even get time to mourn. Arcodia was destroyed, but the rest of the world was in pretty bad shape, too. Everyone was looking to us for help in setting things back to rights. So… So we had to swallow up our grief, shove it deep down inside, and try to put on a brave face and pretend everything was fine and that we weren't utterly broken inside while we stepped up to the task of putting the world back together."

"That… Doesn't sound even remotely healthy," Meicoomon said with a grimace.

"It wasn't," Alphamon said bluntly. "A couple of us couldn't take it. Not… Not all of my friends are no longer around due to retiring or dying in battle, Meicoomon. Some of them… Some of them just couldn't take it anymore, and…" He shook himself, not wanting to talk about that. "Anyway, those of us that remained, we… We tried to make do the best we could. You already know some of what happened next. We managed to repair the Digital World to the best of our abilities and I was able to convince everyone that the Royal Knights should still be a thing that should stick around, which, in hindsight, was probably a terrible idea."

"What about Najamon?" Meicoomon asked, not sure she was going to like the answer.

Alphamon hesitated. "… Najamon… In the days that followed the fall of Arcodia, our relationship grew somewhat… complicated. Our mutual grief and duty both pushed us closer together and also pulled us apart. Things were tense, and not always pleasant for both of us. Despite all that, we were still determined to be with each other, if for no other reason than to salvage some measure of joy from everything we'd lost. As time went on, and our relationship grew steadier, we both started to get a little… Distracted. I was constantly busy trying to turn the Royal Knights into a peacekeeping organization that could maintain order around the world-and you know how _that_ turned out-while she… She became more and more obsessed with her magic, spending an increasing amount of her time studying and researching to try and find a way to undo the Dark Ruler's final curse and bring everyone back. Our friends, our family, our country… She wanted to restore Arcodia, to resurrect it from the ashes. And while I knew that that probably wasn't a good idea, I… I couldn't bring myself to stop her, because deep down, I wanted it as well, and if there were even the slimmest chance that she might be able to succeed…" He clenched his fists, a tear streaming down his cheek. "I should've said something. I should've stopped her while I had the chance. Then, maybe…"

"What happened?" Meicoomon asked, heart full of dread.

"I don't know."

Meicoomon blinked. That wasn't what she'd been expecting. "You… You don't know?"

Alphamon shook his head. "No, I don't. One day, I decided it was time to stop dancing around the issue and confront her about how what she was doing wasn't safe. That she could get herself or someone else seriously hurt if he kept on going like this, and worse, lose sight of what… What was right in front of her. So, I went home to talk to her after work, and… And she was gone."

"She was…" Meicoomon's eyes widened in shock. "She left you?!"

"What? No, no… Well, okay, that's what I thought at first, but then I found the note," Alphamon said. "And no, it wasn't a 'Dear John' letter," he added quickly.

"A what now?" Asked the confused cat.

"It's the term for a letter a person writes if they want to break up with their significant other, but are too much of a coward to say it to their face. It's nearly as bad as breaking up with them via text," Alphamon said scornfully. "No, it wasn't anything like that. Her note said that she thought she'd found a lead on undoing the curse and restoring Arcodia, and she had to rush out to check on it before she lost her window of opportunity. She promised to be back soon, and reminded me that she left dinner for the next few days in the fridge- she was the one who made all the meals in the house, seeing as how I was completely incapable of cooking anything without setting the kitchen on fire – – and she said… She said she loved me.

"I never saw her again."

Meicoomon for her brows in confusion in distress. "But… But where did she go?"

"I…" Alphamon choked back a sob. "I don't know. I have no idea. I waited for her – – it hadn't been the first time she'd needed to leave for days on end for some personal errand or quest, so I figured she'd be back eventually – – but after the food ran out, I began to suspect something was wrong. She _always_ leaves just enough food for me for the exact length of time she's away, due to her using some form of precognition to estimate how long she'd be gone. So when there was nothing left in the fridge, and she _still_ hadn't come back, I _knew_ something must've happened. I looked… I looked everywhere. I searched the Digital World like six times over, went to the human world, asked all our friends and enemies and other beings if they'd seen her or knew where she was… And none of them knew anything. None of them could find her, even using the most powerful scrying spells or search programs known to Digimonkind. It was like… Like she just up and ceased to exist." His shoulders sagged. "After… After many years of looking for her to no end, eventually I just… I gave up. I know it sounds horrible, but I just… I couldn't take it anymore, the constant, desperate searching, my hopes constantly getting up only to be dashed on the hard rocks of reality again and again and again, and I couldn't… I just couldn't do it to myself anymore. So I stopped. People go missing in the Digital World all the time, and they… They don't always get found. I just never thought would happen to me. Then again, nobody does, really."

Meicoomon didn't know what to say to that. She wasn't surprised to discover that she was crying as well. For lack of a better thing to do, she hugged Mica, who nuzzled her sadly.

"You more or less know what happened after that. I ran the Royal Knights into the ground, became an utter mess and failure, and felt like I no longer had any reason to live. I'm not going to blame Najamon's disappearance for my downward spiral, though I'd be lying if I said it wasn't a factor. I'd already been taking my first steps down that path anyway, but if she'd still been there, maybe… Maybe I could have…" He closed his eyes, more tears dripping down his armor. "Well… There's… There's no benefit in wondering what could have been.

"You want to know the kicker, though? The day she disappeared, I was going to ask her to marry me."

Unable to speak, her throat choked up by emotion, Meicoomon did the only thing she could do, and hugged the side of Alphamon's head. He stiffened for a moment, then slowly reached up and cupped a hand around her. They stood there for a moment, crying together.

Eventually, after Alphamon had managed to regain control over his emotions, he started forward again. "But that's enough reminiscing about past tragedies for now. We're almost there."

"Where… Where are we going, anyway?" Meicoomon sniffed, rubbing her nose against her arm. "Why did you bring me here again?"

"There's something I want to show you. Something important," he said evasively. They turned a corner, and Meicoomon squinted, seeing a bright light up ahead, one not being generated by Micah. "Ah, good. We've arrived. Mica, you can turn it down, now."

"Arrived where?" Meicoomon asked as Mica complied, the light around them dimming and causing the light at the end of the hallway to stand out even more against their dark surroundings.

"The oasis in the center of the desert. The only remaining speck of life in this blackened wasteland. Nothing short of sacred ground," Alphamon said reverently as they approached the light, which Meicoomon soon realized was what appeared to be none other than _sunlight_ shining through a doorway to outside. They stepped through.…

And found themselves in a place so beautiful, Meicoomon's breath was taken away. Stretching before them was an absolutely colossal garden, at least an acre or two in size, cobbled walkways winding their way through fields of incredibly green grass with massive beds of flowers of every shape and size imaginable sparkling with every color in the rainbow. Lush trees with leaves and flowers in every color but plain old green heavily laden with colorful and strangely-shaped fruit unlike any she'd ever seen before sprouted all over the place, strategically providing shade for stone benches placed here and there throughout the garden. The garden was an enclosed space, stone walls rising up and up and up high into the sky all around them, numerous windows and balconies opening out into the green space, the sun shining down from a clear blue sky far overhead, framed by the skyscraping turrets and towers of the great Palace they were inside. Countless fountains of exquisite craftsmanship dotted the landscape, water pouring through them into babbling brooks that lazily wound their way throughout the garden, providing nourishment to all the magnificent flora blooming there. Magnificent statues of heroic figures and breathtakingly beautiful Digimon stood vigil over this secluded place, looking so lifelike Meicoomon had to convince herself that they weren't actually real Digimon just standing very still.

As Meicoomon gaped in awe and Mica danced through the air joyfully, the spirit's, well, spirits risen by all the vibrant life surrounding them, Alphamon sighed in relief. "It still here… After all these years, it's still intact. That means, maybe…"

"What is this place?" Meicoomon whispered in wonder. "And why is it so green and full of life, while everything else… Isn't?"

"This place is… _Was_ , Najamon's garden. It was here that she performed all sorts of magical and alchemical experiments on plants and flowers to increase crop yields to provide food to starving areas, grow healthier and more nourishing fruits and vegetables, create new herbs and medicines to treat all sorts of illnesses...Or, when she wanted a break from trying to save the world, simply doing her best to make it a more beautiful and magical place," Alphamon said reverently. "When the Dark Ruler cast its death curse, for whatever reason, this place was untouched. Not even Najamon was sure why, considering that everything else, even the Digimon within the palace, were all wiped out when the curse was cast. It's nothing short of a miracle, really. And even though everything else was lost… There's a part of me that will always be thankful that this place, this garden, remained unharmed, despite all else that happened."

"Why?" Meicoomon asked as Alphamon began to walk down the path before them, heading towards the center of the garden. Mica giddily bobbed and weaved alongside them, stopping frequently to sniff the flowers and coo in delight.

"Aside from the symbolic reminder that at least one small piece of our beloved homeland survived its destruction? This place… This place has always meant a great deal to me, Meicoomon. Some of the most important of vents of my early life happened here," Alphamon explained as they walked across a small footbridge over one of the streams, Mica pausing to stare at her reflection. "It was here that Imperialdramon Paladin Mode first gathered me and my future brethren and told us we were to be heroes. It was here that I took my vows to be a Royal Knight in service of the great nation of Arcodia. It was here that I met Najamon for the first time. It was here where I… Where _we_ first professed our love for each other." He stopped in his tracks. "And it was here that I said farewell to everyone that I lost."

Before them, occupying the exact center of the garden, was a massive circular clearing. There were no benches or trees or brooks here, but a great field of magnificent blue flowers, each petal glowing radiantly with little balls of light swirling around the stamens. The path meandered through the flowers before terminating in a small Plaza in the very center. 13 pedestals stood in a ring on the outer edge of the Plaza, and holograms of Royal Knights rose from each of them. It took Meicoomon a moment to realize that Alphamon wasn't one of them. In the center of the Plaza was a plinth with a gargantuan sword driven into it up to the hilt, so big that it's pommel rose a little higher than Alphamon's head. Behind the sword was a towering monument even larger than it was with what appeared to be a massive battle between Knights, Angels, mages, dragons, soldiers, and other Digimon against a demonic horde with a massive amorphous shape looming over all carved into it, the images comprised of what appeared to be countless words written in characters she didn't recognize.

Three more pedestals were positioned on the sides and in front of the sword. The left one projected a hologram of an elderly-looking humanoid Digimon wearing sagely blue and gold robes decorated with mystic and Kabbalistic sigils with a long gray beard down to his feet and a regal crown atop his head with a halo of compressed Digicode revolving around it, a long scepter capped with a crystal that seem to contain Galaxies within it in one hand orbited by rings of light and a thick tome in the other. A larger halo floated just behind his back, containing the Sefirot and several other Kabbalistic iconography. A number of rings of multicolored gemstones set in them adorned his fingers, each of them bearing a marking resembling some of the most famous symbols in the digital world, including the Crests, the Digital Hazard, the Zero Unit, and even the Mark of Evil. His wizened face seemed stern and solemn, but there was a twinkling of kindness in his ancient blue eyes.

The pedestal on the right protected a hologram of a fantastically beautiful brown-furred humanoid lioness wearing a red and white dress of Egyptian design covered in hieroglyphs and gold iconography, the sides of her skirt slit to expose her shapely legs, golden ankle rings covering her lower legs while sandals covered her footpaws. Numerous bangles and bracelets covered her wrists, and ornate rings wrapped around each of her fingers, a long staff ending in an ankh clutched in her left paw and a wicked-looking khopesh in the other. Her dress was _very_ low-cut, but the numerous gold and jeweled necklaces draped across her chest managed to conceal some of her more-than-ample bosom. A pair of majestic wings with white, gold, and purple plumage spread from her back, a character in Digicode inscribed on each of her feathers. Her exquisite felinoid features were framed by an elaborate Golden headdress resembling the wings of a great bird with a small cobra and a vulture rising from the top, her voluminous black hair falling to her waist before being tied into a tail that continued down to the ground, intertwined with her actual tail. There was a smug smirk on her face and a confident look in her golden eyes.

The third pedestal… Also didn't have a hologram coming out of it. Seeing this, all the tension seemed to flood out of Alphamon, and he staggered, nearly falling to his feet. "It's still empty," he whispered feverishly, tears streaming down his cheeks. "She's still alive… Somewhere out there, she's still… She _has_ to be…"

"Alphamon?" Meicoomon asked anxiously.

Alphamon shook himself out of his reverie, regaining his footing. "Sorry. It's just… that that pedestal is empty is both a huge relief to me, as well as a source of great uncertainty. Allow me to explain," he said, seeing that she didn't understand. "This place, these standing stones and the field around us, they're a Memorial. Najamon created it after the war, in memory of everyone we've lost. That big monument has the names of every soldier and warrior who died during the last battle inscribed in it. Those flowers around us represent all the civilians and noncombatants who died."

Meicoomon gazed back at the many, many glowing flowers surrounding them, stunned. "Each of those flowers represent someone who died? There must be thousands of them!"

Alphamon shook his head. "Oh no, each flower represents approximately a _thousand_ Digimon. The number you're looking for is more in the hundreds of millions."

Meicoomon's jaw dropped. " _Hundreds… Hundreds of millions_ …"

"Arcodia was a big country. There were a lot of people living here, some of them refugees from outside," Alphamon said grimly. "When the Dark Ruler went up, none of them survived. They just fled from one death to another." Meicoomon looked at the beautiful flowers in horror, feeling sick to her stomach. Mica nuzzled her, clearly just as spooked. "The pedestals on the perimeter of the Plaza are, as I'm sure you can no doubt guess, gravestones for the original Royal Knights. Najamon rigged them so that when one of us died, it would start projecting our hologram, so that we would be here to join our fallen brethren in spirit. As you can see, I'm… The only one still alive."

"… That's kind of sad," Meicoomon said after a moment.

"It really is," Alphamon agreed. "Of course, we weren't the only ones to get graves. Those three in the middle represent the Royal family. You can see King Solomon and Queen Shebamon on either side of the sword, and that last pedestal… That one is for Najamon herself. The fact that it's still empty means that… That somehow, somewhere, she's out there. I don't know where, but she's still alive. She must be…"

"Well… That's good news, isn't it?" Meicoomon asked hopefully.

Alphamon sighed. "Yes and no. On the one hand, I can continue to hope that she's okay and will one day come home. On the other hand, since even after all these years, I _still_ don't know what happened to her or where she is, that means I'm left in a perpetual state of worry and fear. At least… At least if I knew she was dead, I might be able to gain some closure and finally move on…"

"… And… And the sword?" Meicoomon asked softly.

"Hmm? Oh, the sword is Imperialdramon Paladin Mode's," Alphamon explained, more than happy to get his mind off the subject of his long-absent love. "We thought it would serve just as good a grave as a hologram would. After he died, his blade was bequeathed to me as the new leader of the Royal Knights. However, I didn't consider myself worthy of it at the time, so had Najamon enshrine it here, resolving that once I _was_ worthy, I would come back and claim it." He grimaced. "Obviously, that never happened. It's been sitting here for a very, very long time, waiting for a new master to wield it in the fight for justice. One who probably will never come."

Meicoomon blinked and looked at him in surprise. "Huh? What about you?"

Alphamon looked startled. "What? Me? No. No no no no. I'm definitely not worthy."

"But-" Meicoomon started.

"No, seriously, I'm not. I came back here a while ago and tried to draw it out of desperation and… Well, it didn't go well. The sword's magic. Chooses its wielder, repels evil, doesn't let the unworthy wield it… You know, that sort of thing," Alphamon explained.

"Oh," Meicoomon said, disappointed. "Then… Why are we here?"

Alphamon shrugged. "Many reasons. This place is very important. To the history of the Royal Knights, and to me. It's where, in many ways, I became the person I am now… Or rather, the person I used to be, who then died so I can become this… Well, monument to failure, and wasted potential.

"But we're not here so I can wallow in self-pity. Not anymore." He looked seriously at Meicoomon. "Just about every major promise, vow, and oath I made in my life, I made right here. Granted, I wound up breaking a lot of those over the years, which, when I say it out loud, doesn't speak well for my track record, but that doesn't matter. This is where I promised to become a hero, a champion, a leader, and a lover. And now, I want it to be where I make another, maybe even more important promise… To be a father."

Alphamon took Meicoomon off of his shoulder, gently placing her on the ground before him. "As I've said, this is the place where I really began. It's a place of beginnings and endings, of welcomes and farewells. If I'm going to say goodbye to the failure I am now, and begin a new chapter… One where I'm a hero once again, and a parent, maybe even someone approximating a good person… Then there's no better place for me to do it then right here, where it all began. Do you understand?"

"I-I do," Meicoomon stuttered, blushing. "And I… I'm incredibly honored. Thank… Thank you for, for sharing this place with me. Your history. Your… Your life."

"I'll be sharing a lot more than that with you from this point forward," Alphamon promised. He crouched down, kneeling so that he could look the cat in the eye. "Meicoomon. I can't promise to be the father and hero you deserve. I don't think I have it in me, not anymore. But… But I can definitely promise that I'll do my damnedest to be the best father _I_ can be, and I'll strive every day to be an even better mon then I am now. It's not going to be easy, and there's sure to be a good amount of stumbling blocks and relapses and taking two steps back for every one forward… But I'm going to keep on trying, because you deserve it. And maybe, just maybe, one day, I'll be even half the person you think I am. If I could make it even that far… Then I'll know I've done something great with my life at long last. Something special. Is that… Is that good enough for you?"

Eyes brimming with tears, Meicoomon nodded. "It's more than I ever thought I would have."

"Then… Then you have my promise. From this day forward, I will try to be a father worthy of you," Alphamon said, voice choked with emotion.

"And I… I promise that I'll be a daughter you'll never regret having," Meicoomon spoke up, equally choked up.

"… You already are," Alphamon said with a hint of a sob.

Neither of them could remember Meicoomon leaping into Alphamon's arms and pressing her tiny frame against his much larger chest. All they knew was that one moment she'd been standing on the ground, the next she was hugging him, the much larger Digimon gently crossing his arms across his chest to return her hug with as much strength as he could without risking harming her. It was unclear how long the two of them remained like that, in that secluded garden in the center of the dead country, all alone save for Meicoomon's faithful spirit companion, observing from nearby. It felt like an eternity… And both of them would agree later that it would have been an eternity well spent.

But all things have to end, even eternity, and eventually Alphamon released his daughter and rose to his feet. "Well," he said, wiping away some tears. "That's… That's enough, I think. We did what we came here to do. Now it's time to go home."

"But… What about the sword?" Meicoomon asked, glancing back at the sword in the plinth.

"The sword? I told you, Meicoomon, I'm not worthy," Alphamon said with a frown. "I tried before, remember?"

"You weren't _then_. Maybe you are now?" The cat suggested.

"Meicoomon, just because I've decided to turn over a new leaf, adopt a kid, and will try to become a better person doesn't automatically make me worthy of wielding the holiest and most powerful sword in the Digital World," Alphamon said with a sigh. "It's a lot more difficult than that."

"Well, you won't know if you don't try," she persisted. "Maybe it will let you wield it now. Maybe it will surprise you."

"Or, more likely, it will remind me of what I already know: that I'm not worthy," Alphamon said flatly. Meicoomon gave him a pleading look. He sighed in exasperation, already well aware that it was going to be almost impossible to deny her in the future whenever she looked at him like that. "Oh, very well. I suppose the worst that can happen is that it will prove me right."

He strode forward, wrapping his hands around the grip. "And actually try to pull it out," Meicoomon spoke up before he even did anything. "Put some effort into it. _Believe_ that you can do it!"

"All right, all right, geez," Alphamon grumbled, rolling his eyes. "Aren't I supposed to be the parent here?"

But he did as she asked and pulled and pulled and pulled, putting all of his strength into the effort. As rusty and out of shape as he was, had this been a lesser blade, he would've ripped it out of its resting place within a heartbeat. Unfortunately, this was no lesser blade, and so, no matter how hard he tried, no matter how red in the face and short of breath he became, the blade wouldn't budge an inch.

Finally, he was forced to stop, panting as he put his hands on his knees to catch his breath. He breathlessly shrugged it Meicoomon. "Guess I'm still not worthy." He wasn't even disappointed. Like he told her, he'd known this was going to happen.

Meicoomon frowned, clearly unwilling to accept this. "Well… Maybe it's stuck, it's been in there for a really long time," she growled, scampering over to the sword and putting her paws on either side of the hilt. "Maybe it just needs a little push…"

Alphamon sighed as Meicoomon started pushing upwards on the sword with all her might. "Meicoomon, that's not going to do anything-"

The sword moved.

There was a flash of light, and Meicoomon stumbled backwards, holding what was very clearly the Omni Sword, now no longer stuck in its resting place, scaled-down for her size.

Alphamon and Meicoomon stared at the shrunken blade in disbelief. Slowly, the cat raised the sword, flipping it over so she was holding it by the grip, blade pointed skyward, an amazed Micah circling her. A shaft of light happened to grace upon her, and for a moment, Alphamon didn't see the tiny kitten he had just adopted, but an incredibly beautiful vaguely felinoid angel in gold and white, golden wings stretched out behind her back as she lifted her sword towards the heavens, a look of determination and resolve on her gorgeous features, infinite knowledge and compassion shining in her eyes.

And then Alphamon blinked, and the vision passed, and Meicoomon stood before him once again. After a long silence, she hesitantly held the sword out towards him. "H-here. You must have… You must've loosened it up for me or something."

Alphamon stared at the sword in her paws, the sword of his master, the sword he'd once thought would be his. After a moment, he shook his head. "No. We both know I didn't. The sword wouldn't have come out of the stone if it hadn't accepted you as its master."

"What… But I can't be!" She protested, eyes wide. "I'm not… I'm not worthy!"

"The sword would say otherwise," Alphamon countered. "And you're definitely worthier than I am."

"B-but I don't want it! I said before, I don't want to hurt anyone! I-I don't even know how to _use_ a sword!" She protested frantically.

"I can teach you how to use it," Alphamon said at once. "And if I can't, others can. But like I said, I won't force you to do anything you don't want to. If you really, truly don't want to learn how to wield it, or use its powers for good, then that's all right. Even so, you should keep it. It would be rude to refuse a gift from your grandfather, after all."

"My grand-" Her eyes widened. "… Oh. OH. You mean-"

"Yeah," Alphamon said. "He never formally adopted me or anything, but… He was still my dad, in every way that counts. Much more than that tree."

Meicoomon looked at the sword, seeing her face reflected in the blade. Much to her surprise, she didn't see the scared, miserable kitten she usually saw when she looked in the mirror. Instead, she thought she saw… Someone strong. Someone brave. Someone with the confidence and drive to take everything life threw at her and walk out the other side, and seize what was rightfully hers.

Someone who was happy. Someone who was… Loved.

"I suppose," she said slowly, not taking her eyes off her reflection. "It… It wouldn't hurt to hold onto it. For… For his sake. Keep it in the family and all."

Alphamon nodded in agreement. "Yeah. I think… I think that if he'd met you, he'd have wanted you to have it."

Meicoomon glanced up at that. "Do you think he would've liked me?"

"Meicoomon, he would've _adored_ you," Alphamon promised her.

Meicoomon smiled bashfully at that, and then looked back at the plinth where the sword had been resting all these many years, and at the holographic graves surrounding it. "I wish I could've met him. That I could've met… All of them."

"I wish you could have t0o," Alphamon said somberly. He looked at the only other blank gravestone. "But… Maybe you'll be able to meet one of them someday."

Meicoomon glanced at the grave as well. "And you think once I do, she'll… Want to be my mom?"

Alphamon shrugged. "Assuming she can still love me, after everything I've done, after everything I've become… Regardless, I'm sure she'll take a shine to you, no matter what her relationship to me will be."

"I think she'll accept you," Meicoomon said, glancing back at her father.

"What makes you so sure?" Alphamon asked.

"Well, if _I_ can love you, then surely someone as wonderful as you described won't have any problem," she said with a faint smile.

Alphamon chuckled and shook his head. "I hope you're right. I hope… I hope I can find her."

"Well, we know she's still alive. That's something," Meicoomon pointed out.

"Yeah, it is," he agreed. He crouched down and extended a hand. "But that's something we can deal with another day. For now, I think it's long past time for us to go home, if you're ready."

"Okay." Moving slower than usual, wary of the rather large, pointy weapon she was carrying, Meicoomon crawled into his hand, and was raised onto his shoulder. "Do you think we can come back here sometime? It's kind of nice. Micah seems to like it."

Alphamon considered this request as he looked out across the garden, still lush and thriving, even after all these years. He'd been avoiding this place for decades, if not longer. He'd forgotten just how beautiful was. "I think we can manage," he said finally. "Have a picnic or something. Make a family outing of it."

Meicoomon smiled. "That sounds nice. And then, when we find _her_ , we can bring her here too, right?"

Alphamon nodded. "Yeah, I'm sure she'll want to see how this old place has done in her absence. A little reminder that, even though all of Arcodia was destroyed, at least this one small piece of it is still standing."

"Can you tell me more about her? And the others?" Meicoomon asked as Alphamon headed for the entrance back into the dark Castle, Mica flitting ahead of them, ready to provide illumination when needed. "I'd like to hear about them."

Alphamon smiled. "You know, I think that sounds like a wonderful idea."

And so, on their way back through the dark Castle and the ruined city, Alphamon told her stories of his friends of old. Stories he hadn't thought of in so long, he'd nearly forgotten about them. Tales of heroism and wonder, as well as stories of romance, tragedy, and even just amusing events from everyday life. How Dynasmon managed to win Crusadermon's love with a heartfelt song, the best he'd ever performed. How the only person who ever beat Kentaurosmon in a race was Imperialdramon Paladin Mode. How Magnamon trained harder than any other Knight to compensate for being the only member of the team who wasn't a Mega-level Digimon. How Craniamon more than once revolutionized the way Arcodia thought of science and engineering through his unmistakable genius, despite not even being born in the country. He told her of Examon's astonishing and entertaining string of romantic entanglements, in contrast to Gallantmon's long, drawn-out courtship with the priestess Sakuyamon. He told her of his friendly rivalry with Omnimon, and drinking games with Duftmon, and sparring sessions with Gankoomon, and how Jesmon's piety and faith helped them find peace whenever their souls were troubled, and how UlforceVeedramon's jokes managed to lighten up even the darkest of situations, even as the war wound on and on.

And as they reached the car and began driving home, he told her of his mentor, who took him from a horrible situation and helped groom him and train him to be one of the greatest heroes in the world, serving as a guide and role model for the future leader of the Royal Knights as well as a friend and father figure. Of the King, who, despite having the weight of the world on his shoulders, still found time to come visit the Knights, offer words of wisdom and camaraderie, and even take them out on fishing expeditions or nights on the town when they had time. Of the Queen, and how her raw energy and courage had inspired them to keep fighting on more than one occasion, along with filling their bellies with some of the best treats and pastries he'd ever had-having been a world-class baker _and_ a warrior before she was a Queen-and generally being the mother figure many of them had never had.

And, in softer tones, he told her about his Princess. How her smile had lit up his world. How he'd fallen for her the instant he first saw her. How, with the help of his friends, he'd embarked on an increasingly convoluted, embarrassing, and hilarious series of attempts to woo her before finally managing to earn her affections. How they had fought together back to back more times than he could remember. How even the worst of days, especially after the fall of Arcodia, felt a little better so long as she was there. He told Meicoomon about the plans they had made to build a life for each other once things had settled down, of having a home and a family. In tears, he talked about how much he missed her, even after all these years, and there were days he woke up and thought, for a moment, that she was still there, that he could feel her in the bed beside him, and everything that had happened since her disappearance was nothing more than one long nightmare… Only to discover, yet again, that she was gone, and he was all alone in the world.

At which point Meicoomon had gently put a paw upon his arm and said, "Not anymore." And if he hadn't been driving the car at that moment, he would have hugged her tight and never let go.

For hours, he told story after story after story, filling up the long drive back home with memories he had thought long buried, feeling the emotions behind them as freshly as he had on the day they had first happened, sharing a part of himself nearly forgotten with someone else for the first time in in years. And, after he'd parked the car in his private space and gently carried the snoozing kitten back to his-no, _their_ quarters, an equally weary Mica curled up on his head, he realized, after he tucked his daughter into bed and kissed her on the forehead, that for the first time in decades, he was happy.

And when he crawled into bed next to her and went to sleep, it was the best rest he'd had in years, free of nightmares. Instead, he dreamed of a picnic in a magical garden, just himself, a kitten, a spirit…and a princess.


	9. A new beginning

Disclaimer: I don't own anything that doesn't belong to me.

...

Meicoomon fidgeted uncomfortably as the two young Digimon in front of her waited patiently for her to speak. After a nudge from Mica, she finally blurted out, "So, um, Alphamon- I mean, dad- says that you're, ah, Gallantmon and Sakuyamon's kids?"

One of the children, a handsome, muscular Guilmon with mystic sigils tattooed to his body and a sword and shield strapped to his back, nodded. "Yeah. I'm Guilmon, and this is my sister Renamon."

The other Digimon, an incredibly pretty Renamon with a khakkhara slung from her back and a few pouches and a spellbook strapped to her waist bowed her head gracefully. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Meicoomon. Our parents told us a lot about you."

Meicoomon swallowed. "Wh-what did they say?"

"That you've had a bit of a rough time layely, but are trying to make a fresh start, and could use friends your own age to help you," Renamon said calmly.

"They didn't mention you were this cute," Guilmon quipped, causing her to blush.

"Th-that's not very nice…" She muttered, looking away, feeling a little upset.

"Huh? Why?" Guilmon asked in surprise. "You are. Cute, that is."

Meicoomon blinked and looked at the red reptile in surprise. "Y-you actually meant that?"

"Well, yeah, why wouldn't I?" Guilmon asked, perplexed. "I never say anything I don't mean. It would be dishonest and dishonorable to do otherwise."

"My brother aspires to be a Knight like our father," Renamon explained to the surprised Meicoomon. "As such, he takes the virtues of honor and chivalry very seriously."

"I have a bit more magical proficiency than my dad, though, so think I'm going to be more of a Mage Knight," Guilmon said, indicating the sigils on his body. "Comes from having one of the most powerful sorceresses in the digital world as a mother. Renamon, of course, will one day succeed mom for that title and ruler of our homeland. She's already stronger than mom was when she was her age."

"I still have a long ways to go, though," Renamon said with a shrug. "What about you, Meicoomon? Do you want to be a Knight like your father?"

"I… I don't know…" Meicoomon said anxiously, fidgeting. "I mean…I'd be lying if I said it didn't…appeal to me on some level, but…" She whimpered. "I don't…I don't want to ever hurt anyone again, and I don't know how I can avoid that if I were to follow in his footsteps."

Guilmon shrugged. "Well, that's okay. You don't need to decide your future now. You can take as long as you want."

"But you two seem to already know what you want to be," Meicoomon pointed out, confused.

"Yeah, but we aren't you," Guilmon pointed out. "We already know what we want to be, but you can take as long as you want to decide. It's your life, after all. You're the only one who should be able to decide how it should go."

"… Up until now, I haven't really had much of a say in what happens to me," Meicoomon said softly. "I'm… Not sure how to adjust to it being different just yet."

"Give it time," Renamon said gently. "There's no hurry. You're still young, after all." She glanced at Mica and smiled. "Hmm, you seem to have bonded well with your spirit guardian."

Meicoomon blinked. "Huh? Oh, yeah. Mica is great. I… I'm really grateful to your mother for giving her to me."

"She seems to be very happy to be with you," Renamon noted as the Spirit Fox cheerfully nuzzled Meicoomon's cheek. "Much like our own are with us."

"Huh? You guys have spirits, too?" Meicoomon asked in surprise. Mica seem to chuckle at this.

Guilmon nodded as a pair of spirits manifested in bursts of colorful flame over his and his sister's shoulders. "Yeah, mom gave them to us just after we hatched. There are lots of evil forces who want us or to get at our parents through us, so having Fafnir here always by my side has helped to prevent that," the dinosaur explained, rubbing the chin of the tiny red Dragon floating beside him with a claw.

"And my dear Yoko has always been an aide and worthy companion in my magical endeavors," Renamon commented, stroking the head of her shimmering green Fox with a smile. "I'm sure that, whatever you choose to do with your life, Mica will be there to help you as best as she can."

Meicoomon glanced at Mica, who nodded in assurance. "That's… That's good to hear. I've been alone, and couldn't count on or trust anyone else for a… A really long time. Knowing that there'll always be someone in my corner, no matter what, that's… Still something I'm trying to wrap my head around, but… I like it. I think I like it a lot." Mica cooed happily at this.

"We are in your corner too, if you'll let us," Guilmon offered.

"Wh-what? But we just met!" Meicoomon protested, surprised.

"Maybe so, but from everything we've heard, it sounds like you really could use some friends," Renamon pointed out. "And I know you probably haven't exactly had the best experience with other kids, but… I can promise you that no matter what happens, we won't turn on you like they did. We would like to be your friends, if you will let us."

"And… If I don't let you?" Meicoomon asked, hesitant and cautious.

"Then that will be that. We will not force the issue," Renamon promised. "However, we will still look out for you, if we are able."

"Yeah," Guilmon agreed. "What kind of future heroes and defenders of justice and the innocent would we be if we didn't?"

Meicoomon was unsure how to process all this. Kids like them, who had everything going for them, wanted to hang out with and be friends with someone like her? That couldn't be right. There's no way she deserved companions as incredible as them.

Then again, she hadn't thought she deserved to be adopted, either, and yet here she was, the daughter of the leader of the Royal Knights. And Alphamon said that if she could trust him, then he could _definitely_ trust them. Maybe…

"Guilmon, I'm, uh, guessing you know how to use a sword, right?" She spoke up, surprising herself.

Guilmon smirked, gripping the hilt of his sword. "I may know a thing or two, yes."

"I… I, um, I have a sword of my own. I was wondering if you might want to look at it, maybe give me a few pointers to make sure that I don't hurt myself or anyone else with it…?" She asked, cursing herself at how desperate and needy that sounded.

Guilmon's eyes lit up at that. "I'd love to! And… Is it true that your sword is really the legendary Omni Sword? The blade wielded by Imperialdramon Paladin mode, only the greatest hero to ever live?! And that _you_ are the one who finally pulled it out of its resting place?!"

Meicoomon nodded nervously. "Y-yeah. Personally, I think my dad loosened it, because there's no way I could possibly be worthy of it, but-"

"No way! That's so cool!" Guilmon gushed. Excited, he grabbed her hands. "You have to let me see it! I-I mean, if that's okay with you, it is."

Meicoomon became vaguely aware that she was blushing very hard. She wondered why that was the case, and why the reptile seemed even handsomer up close, and how his golden eyes were so endlessly enthralling, and he smelled like- Quickly cutting off that chain of thought, she said, "S-sure. That would be… That would be all right. I-I mean, I wouldn't have asked if it weren't all right, right?"

"Thanks!" Guilmon, noticing he was gripping her paws and was a bit too close to her, blushed and quickly let go, taking a step back. "Oh, sorry. I didn't meet to crowd you like that. I just get a little enthusiastic when comes to legendary heroes of old, and your… I want to say adoptive grandfather, but I don't mean to presume…"

"N-no, Alphamon—er, Dad-seems to think that's what I should call him too," Meicoomon said quickly.

"That is so cool," Guilmon whispered, eyes wide and glistening with wonder. "I wish my grandfather were someone that cool."

"Brother, I thought that grandfather was one of your personal heroes, and a legendary hero in his own right," Renamon pointed out.

"Yeah, but he's not _nearly_ as legendary as Imperialdramon Paladin Mode," Guilmon said defensively.

Meicoomon giggled. It took her a moment and the siblings, looking at her in surprise and amusement, to realize it. Flustered, she stammered, "S-so, I should… I should probably show you that sword, right?"

"Huh? Oh. Right, the sword. Yeah. That… That would be nice," Guilmon said quickly. Under his breath, he murmured, "you have a pretty laugh. You look amazing when you smile."

"What?" Meicoomon asked, ears twitching.

"I didn't say anything," Guilmon said quickly.

"I never said you did-" Meicoomon started, confused.

"OKAY, LET'S GO SEE THAT SWORD, NOW!" Guilmon said loudly, grabbing Meicoomon by the paw and dragging her away very quickly. The kitten was so surprised and his touch made so many Butterflymon start fluttering in her stomach that it took her several moments to realize they were going the wrong way.

Renamon shook her head in amusement and glanced at Yoko. "They have it bad for each other, don't they?" The spirit nodded solemnly. Renamon chuckled and sauntered after her brother and new friend. "Well, this should be interesting…"

…

"So, that basically sums everything up," Alphamon concluded, finishing his report on everything that had happened yesterday after he and Meicoomon had headed out to see Yggdrasil.

(He had glossed over most of the visit to Arcodia, and hadn't mentioned the crying at all. Some things were too personal to share with others outside of family. He also hadn't mentioned his connection to the X-anti-body because he still wasn't really sure how to broach that topic with anyone else.)

The other three Knights in his office, Omnimon, Gallantmon, and Craniamon, sat there in silence for several moments. Finally, Gallantmon swore loudly and punched the wall hard enough to crater it. "MOTHERFUCKER," he shouted.

"Language," Omnimon said halfheartedly.

Craniamon blinked. "Oh my. I didn't even know you _knew_ that word."

"I don't… I don't believe this!" Gallantmon fumed, looking like he was seconds away from punching the wall again. "I've known for a long time Yggdrasil's rotten to the core, but this! This… This goes beyond the pale!"

Omnimon nodded solemnly. "I've had to stomach a lot of awful things since joining the Knights and working for that tree, but this… This, I think, is a step too far."

"If it were not so morally repugnant, I might almost find myself impressed by this scheme," Craniamon said disgust. "Certainly an effective way to utilize the abilities and digital makeup of a unique being to build an army to destroy a world."

"What are we going to do about this?!" Gallantmon demanded. "We can't just let him get away with this!"

Alphamon sighed. "You're not going to like this, but… Right now? Nothing."

Gallantmon trembled with rage. "Nothing? _Nothing_?! _NOTHING_?! He did horrible, unspeakable things to a child-the child that is now under your care, I might add- and turned other children into disease vectors to spread a dangerous virus across the Digital World to turn them into berserk soldiers to destroy another world, and you want us… You want us to just do _nothing_?!" Outraged, he slammed a fist on Alphamon's desk. "That's all you do! That's all you _EVER DO! **NOTHING!** "_

Omnimon grabbed the other Knight by the wrist. "Gallantmon, that's enough."

Gallantmon was about to give a rather nasty response to that, only to realize that 1.) He'd been about to backtalk a superior officer and had just insulted his leader and 2.) The desk had been shattered by his blow, and was now lying in broken scraps of wood on the floor. Alphamon sighed wearily. "And I just got that desk this morning, too…"

Appalled by his behavior, Gallantmon bowed his head in apology. "I-I'm sorry, sir. I let my temper get away from me. That was out of line."

"It was," Alphamon acknowledged, slowly rising from his seat. "But that doesn't mean you were wrong, either."

Omnimon and Gallantmon glanced at Alphamon in surprise. "Sir?" Omnimon inquired.

"You're right, Gallantmon. For far too long, I _have_ done nothing. Out of apathy and cowardice, I have allowed evil to be committed right in front of us, but done almost nothing to stop it. I have allowed this organization, which once meant something to the people of the Digital World, to become a broken shell of what it once was, a laughingstock and symbol of corruption and failure rather than a beacon of hope and justice to those oppressed and suffering all across the world. I have let down my friends, my brothers in arms, my mentor, and myself." Alphamon's eyes hardened and he clenched a fist. "That stops right now."

"Sir, what do you mean?" Omnimon asked cautiously.

Alphamon reached down and picked up a framed picture from the ruins of his desk. It'd just been taken a few hours ago, and it was clear that the subjects- Meicoomon and himself and even Mica – – were very happy. Happier than they'd been in quite some time. _Just got this thing framed,_ he thought to himself, mildly disgruntled by how the frame and the glass had been broken, although the picture was intact. _Gonna have to pick out another one now._ "For far too long," he said quietly, staring at the picture. "I have failed in my duty to protect the Digital World." He looked up from the picture, staring his subordinates in the eyes. "But I'm a father now. And I won't be able to look my kid in the eye ever again if I don't do everything in my power to make the world a safer place for her."

"Like any good father should," Gallantmon said solemnly, nodding in understanding.

"What exactly are you suggesting, Sir?" Craniamon said warily.

Alphamon sat back down. "When I said we weren't going to do anything, I didn't mean we were _never_ going to do anything _._ As we are now, we aren't ready to make those responsible for Meicoomon's suffering, and everything else, pay for their sins. We're going to need allies and resources that we simply do not possess at the moment. We're going to need to train, and train hard, to become as strong as we need to be, and to remind ourselves, all of us – – well, okay, most of us, we all know Dynasmon is a lost cause – – of what it really means to be a Knight. It's going to take time to do all that. Maybe even a very long time. But it will be time well spent, because once we're ready – – and mark my words, we _will_ be ready – – we're going to take down Yggdrasil."

The other three Knights regarded him for a moment, stunned. "Oh my," Craniamon said finally, eyes wide.

"Sir," Omnimon said. "What you're suggesting is treason."

"Yes, Omnimon, I suppose it is," Alphamon said, mildly. "Is that a problem?"

Omnimon shook his head slowly. "No, sir. My loyalty is to you, not that hunk of wood. If you want to take down Yggdrasil, I'll help you every step of the way."

Alphamon smiled. "Thank you, Omnimon. I knew you would. You've always had my back, no matter what." He glanced at Gallantmon. "And what about you? I'm pretty sure that betraying your liege lord goes against the Knight's code."

"Normally, that would be the case," Gallantmon acknowledged. "However, I think an exception can be made in this instance. If my master is a being truly unworthy of the name, if he is disloyal to me, then there is no need for me to be loyal to him either." He regarded Alphamon for a while. "Yggdrasil is one such master. And, for the longest time, so were you. But… I think you are at last becoming someone whom I would be honored to serve, not merely because it is my obligation, but because it is my _choice_. You have my lance, whenever you need it."

Alphamon bowed his head. "You've always been the best of us, Gallantmon. I'm glad to know that I can count on you in the days to come." He glanced at Craniamon. "And what about you, Craniamon?"

"Well, of course I'll help you, but… Sir, if I might ask, why are you asking just the three of us?" The scientist asked, puzzled. "Why aren't you bringing this to the attention of the rest of our order?"

"Because the three of you are the Knights I trust more than anyone else in this organization," Alphamon explained. "The only ones I can be absolutely 100 percent sure won't betray me or screw up somehow. I may change my mind and bring others into the fold later as to what we're really up to, but for now, the fewer people who know a secret the safer it is… And I can't think of anyone safer to trust with his secret than you all."

"Even me, Sir?" Craniamon asked, awed. "I… I had no idea you had such faith in me."

"When your inventions and experiments aren't blowing up in your face, the things you've done in your laboratory have benefited the Digimon of our world more than our collective organization has in generations," Alphamon said. "A few instances of mad science aside, you're not just the smartest person I know, but someone who genuinely wants to use their intelligence for the benefit of others. You had my daughter, who you told me was one of the most unique and fascinating Digimon you've ever encountered, in your lab, and you never once considered vivisecting her or doing all sorts of other horrible tests on her, tests like the ones that were inflicted on her for most of her childhood. Your science and analysis was able to help us understand what she is and eventually uncovered the mastermind behind everything that's happened to her, giving us a chance to put things right. How could I _not_ have faith in you after all that?"

Moved to tears, Craniamon bowed his head for a moment. "… Thank you for that, sir. I promise you, you have my spear, and my shield, and most importantly my _brain_ when the time comes. I will do whatever it takes to help you rid the Digital World of that persistent weed calling itself a God once and for all."

Alphamon nodded in gratitude. "Thank you, Craniamon. And thank you all of you, for putting your trust in me. I know I haven't done a lot to earn it in… Pretty much the entire time you've known me, but I promise you, I will do whatever it takes to create a better future for this world. And for my daughter. And, with that said, I think it's finally time we acknowledged the Elephantmon in the room." He nodded at an Elephantmon that had been standing in attention on the other side of the room the entire time he'd been debriefing the Knights.

"Oh yeah, I was wondering what he was doing there," Omnimon commented.

"Sirs," Elephantmon said, bowing his head. "It is an honor and a privilege to meet you all, and to be included in such a distinguished endeavor. I'm what's known as a… Specialist in coming up with plans to remove certain individuals from power, should they ever prove… Problematic."

"Does that include us as well?" Gallantmon asked warily.

"That's classified," the elephant said bluntly.

Craniamon frowned. "By whom?"

"That's classified as well," Elephantmon deflected. "Let's just say that, for the moment, our interests happen to coincide and leave it at that. You want to take down Yggdrasil? I've been devising plans to do so for years. If you want to chop down that tree, you're going to need my help."

The three Knights exchanged glances before looking back at the elephant. "All right. We're listening," Omnimon said.

"Very well." Elephantmon raised his trunk, and light projected from it, forming images on the far wall. As everyone turned their heads to look at the presentation, the elephantine android said, "Allow me to walk you through a little something I call 'Operation Lumberjack…'"

…

In the deepest darkness, there was a light, a beautiful golden light that all the denizens of the dark shied away from. The light had faded considerably in recent years, but was still going strong… For now, anyway.

Within that light, wrapped in wings and coils, was a Digimon. The Digimon stirred, startling those who had been watching the light, for that Digimon had not shown any signs of life in eons.

They were startled again a moment later, when the Digimon whispered, " _Alphamon_ …"

…

Jesmon knelt before the small altar in his room, a bonsai tree standing before a votive picture of a much larger tree, statuettes of monstrous dragons flanking the image, looking even more grotesque because the sculptor had struggled to carve benign looks on their face before giving up halfway. Lighting a series of candles in front of and on either side of the small altar, Jesmon bowed his head in the direction of Yggdrasil and began praying to the distant tree, just as the Sistermon sisters had taught him to.

His prayers were interrupted when the candles flared up, and suddenly the entire assemblage burst into flame. "Gah!" He shot to his feet, frantically looking left and right for the fire extinguisher (was it even full? He couldn't remember) and cursed himself for the first time for having the sprinklers in his room disabled so they wouldn't be set off whenever he lit his prayer candles (which he did NOT have far too many of, thank you very much!) when suddenly, the flames turned a brilliant white, catching his attention. "Okay…" He murmured, noticing that the fire didn't seem to be giving off any heat, nor was it spreading to the rest of his quarters. "That is… Unusual…"

The flames reshaped themselves, taking the form of a vaguely humanoid androgynous figure. "Definitely unusual. Unless…" He gasped. "I'm receiving a holy vision, as is told in the sacred texts!" He quickly got down on one knee. "Oh, blessed Yggdrasil! Tell me your wish, so that I might execute your will!"

 _"I am not Yggdrasil. Do not speak the name of that charlatan in my presence_ ," the fiery figure said in a high, vaguely feminine tone.

"Charlatan?! What blasphemy is this?!" Jesmon demanded, indignant.

 _"I am Homeostasis, the being who maintains stability and harmony, the true God of the Digital World,"_ the entity proclaimed. _"Yggdrasil is naught but a pretender, a false God who preys upon the faith of the naïve and the desperate to maintain control over world that does not belong to him."_

"You'll pardon me if I'm hesitant to believe this," Jesmon said, skeptical. "For all I know, _you_ are the false God."

 _"You have prayed to Yggdrasil for years, many times a day,"_ Homeostasis spoke. _"Has he ever answered you, even once? Have you ever even_ met _him?"_

"Well… I wrote him letters, and I tried to embark on a pilgrimage once, but they turned me away at the door," Jesmon admitted hesitantly. "I assumed it was a test of my faith, so I waited on the doorstep for over a week until they finally lost patience and violently kicked me out. I believed at the time I was being taught some valuable lesson that I had not yet grasped the meaning of."

 _"There was no test, and no lesson,"_ Homeostasis spoke. _"Yggdrasil knew you were there. He just did not care. He never cares. I, however, know the secret desires that lie in your heart. I know of your feelings for your mentor Gankoomon, and how bitterly you wish he would return them."_

"That's… Hardly a secret," Jesmon said uncomfortably.

 _"I also know of your dream journal, and the fantasies you have written therein. Why, just this morning, I believe you wrote an entry describing a rather tawdry encounter involving him, the Sistermon sisters and a tremendous amount of chocolate pudding,-"_

"All right! All right! That's enough of that!" Jesmon said quickly. "Let's say, hypothetically speaking, that I believe you, that you are an actual God, not some sort of mind reader or someone who's been spying on me for a while. What exactly do you want from me? And are you going to promise me that I will have Gankoomon's heart if I assist you? Because I must warn you, I've heard that offer way too many times and have been burned every single time. I'm not going to fall for it again." He hesitated. "But, ah, again hypothetically speaking, ARE you offering-"

 _"I am not,"_ Homeostasis said.

"Oh," Jesmon said, trying not to look too disappointed.

 _"What I_ am _offering you, however, is the chance to make a difference. To be a hero, as you have so longed to be, instead of someone who just sits around and does next to nothing while others are out there fighting evil."_

"I… Have become somewhat disenchanted, as of late, with most of my fellow Knights," Jesmon admitted reluctantly.

 _"I have a task for you. One that I believe only you can accomplish. A deed that, if performed correctly, could save the digital world from destruction,"_ Homeostasis said.

"A holy quest?" Jesmon asked, perking up at this.

 _"Indeed. A weapon called the Libra has come into being, and Yggdrasil seeks to use it to wreak havoc on this world and the human world, which could cause both worlds to sink back into the quantum sea if left unchecked,"_ Homeostasis explained.

"What! That's terrible!" Jesmon cried, only to pause. "But… If it is Yggdrasil's will-"

 _"If he is not stopped, and the Libra remains intact, both worlds could sink back into the quantum sea,"_ Homeostasis repeated. He stared her blankly. _"That's a bad thing."_

"Oh! Well, in that case… Perhaps… Perhaps Yggdrasil does not recognize the nature of what he's doing? But no, he is all knowing and all-powerful, surely he…" Jesmon shook his head. "Nevermind, crisis of faith can wait until later. The Libra. Where is it? What does it look like? I cannot guarantee I will destroy it until I know for sure that it is as dangerous as you say, but I will least search for it."

 _"The Libra is far closer than you might anticipate. It is right under your nose, in fact,"_ Homeostasis informed him. _"It has, in truth, taken the form of a Digimon. A Digimon that goes by the name of Meicoomon…"_


End file.
